Can't Please Them All
by SomniumArtifex
Summary: Everyone is pairing off and moving on with their lives, or as far on as shape-shifters can move, since the fight with Stendahl. So why is it so hard for Embry? He's met his imprint but that doesn't mean that things are going to be easy. Especially since his sister is his alpha and as unpredictable as they come. Sequel to Two Halves but can be read without reading Two Halves.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note #1:_

_This story is kind of like a sequel to Two Halves. If you haven't read that but would like to know what the hell is happening then feel free to give it a read. Otherwise there in a short explanation is this chapter and I'll try to add in details as need throughout the rest of the story._

* * *

It's amazing that life still manages to surprise me.

A few years ago I was a simple teenage boy; my thoughts consisted of sports, cars and girls, although not necessarily in that order. Being rejected by the stunning head cheerleader because my car was a shit-heap was the absolute worst thing that could happen to me. Watching my friend sulk over a girl that was in love with someone our people despised, was the most awkward and annoying thing that I had to live with back then.

Weeks after said girl arrived, my life gave me my biggest surprise to date. I phased. I found out I was a werewolf, well, shape-shifter but there really isn't that much difference between the two. I could change at will from a human to a giant wolf, but if I was angry that control was taken away from me. I joined a pack, that at the time of my first phasing was only three members strong, and had to abandon my closest friends. Thankfully they were able to join me eventually but that was the hardest part about being a shape-shifter, that and not being able to tell my mother. It took me a while to get used to but it was far from the worst surprise that I would ever get.

A little over a year ago, the single greatest shock of my life threw itself at me.

I had been visiting family in Makah territory when Jacob informed me of a visitor to the La Push Reservation. He had gone into detail about how much this visitor hated the Cullens and to everyone's surprise, how much hatred Paul had towards her. At the time I didn't really give her much thought, as Jacob told me it was unlikely she'd still be around when I got back.

But she wasn't gone when I got back and that was when the shock kicked in. Jacob informed me of the evil shape-shifter that was likely coming our way and how it was the visitor's fault that it was happening. Gabriella, the Australian shape-shifter with a list of issue a mile long; not that it was surprising considering the abuse she'd suffered at the hands of her biological father.

The details of Gabriella's life are something for another story but the simplified tale is as follows. Gabriella was the first female shifter born into a massive pack of shifters, some forty individuals strong and mostly dingoes. Gabby grew up believing a shifter by the name of Ewan Butler was her father but found out at the age of ten that this wasn't the case. He accidentally killed her biological mother and then committed suicide over it. Her biological father was a psychopathic shifter who caused the deaths of her immediate family and slaughtered her whole town in the hopes of getting his daughter to follow him around the world for the rest of her life. For seven years she travelled alone, desperate to make sure that she didn't risk anyone else's life.

That didn't work well when she met the Quileute Pack, who forced her to stay and, for reasons that she still doesn't understand, embraced her as a member. She imprinted on Paul, which was both unexpected and predictable, and then the five remaining members of her pack showed up. They were devoted to her because she was their true alpha, their then leader was not up for such a role even though he didn't want to admit it. The then 'alpha' left soon after he arrived but the others stuck around, determined to claim Gabby as their alpha.

Shortly after Gabby took that role, Gunvald Stendahl, her psychopathic father, turned up. Hell bent on getting what he thought was rightfully his. Oh, did I forget to mention that Gabby was my half-sister. Gunvald Stendahl was my biological father too. I did not handle that piece of information well... but can you blame me?

Stendahl came with an army of vampires and was almost guaranteed to succeed in the slaughter of everyone in La Push, if it hadn't been for Gabby's past catching up with her. Ewan Butler had called together every shifter he could get in contact with and had been hunting down Stendahl for a while. Yes, Ewan Butler. Ewan Butler who faked his death because he couldn't handle what he'd done.

Long story short, Stendahl is dead and I have a sister. A sister who married Paul Lahote and bore him the first of the next generation of shifters. Ewan stuck around because he loved Gabby, she was his daughter as far as he was concerned, although their relationship is still a little tentative.

If you're confused, don't worry. I still have trouble believing it myself sometimes.

I remember when I first phased and how simple things had been then. There had been one pack, and the only thing we had to worry about was the small family of vampires living in Forks. Then Jacob left the pack and Seth and Leah went with him, I joined too but it was something I kind of regretted pretty soon after. It wasn't easy living beside the thing that you were born to fight against. But even two packs was easier than this.

Now there are three packs. Sam's, Jacob's and Gabby's. Jacob's Pack took care of Forks, while Sam's took care of La Push, more specifically the township and forest closest to the town. Gabby's Pack had a less defined territory but spent most of its time to the north, and included Makah territory.

Why Makah territory?

I started in Sam's Pack and then followed Jacob when he left. But now I was with family. I was part of Gabby's Pack and must say that it is a lot easier than the other two Packs. I can't stand being around the Cullens much anymore and Sam's Pack just didn't feel the same as it used to. But Gabby's Pack was comfortable.

There were nine of us; making our pack was larger than the other two, beating Sam's by just one member, but we were far more lax than his. Gabby and Paul were alpha and beta, and I was third-in-command. Gabby's cousin, Randy had followed Gabby from Australia and imprinted on Leah, so they were both in the pack too. Then there was Josh, Mitchell and Xavion, the last of the Aussies who were so sweet and friendly that it was impossible to dislike them. Finally, there was Ewan who was a tentative member of the pack as Gabby still didn't entirely trust him.

Gabby and the Aussies grew up in a predominately dingo based shifter family. In fact, Gabby and Xavion were the only Aussie's that weren't dingoes, making our pack a very mismatched one. Gabby, Paul, Leah and myself were all wolves. Ewan, Josh, Mitchell and Randy were all dingoes. And Xavion, who was the youngest and definitely Gabby's favourite, was a fox. It was quite a weird discovery for us because we didn't know shifters came in any other form than wolf.

And that is the story so far. But I have a strong feeling that it is not the end.

* * *

"Do you think you can hold my son a little more carefully than that?" Paul growled as he held up the shelf that Randy was installing in his new house.

Gabby, Leah and Xavion were out patrolling and the rest of us were helping to set up Randy and Leah's new house. Josh was playing with Takoda, Gabby and Paul's son, and he was playing a little rough. Gabby didn't care much about rough play, mainly because no one was stupid enough to do it in front of her, she had anger issues that made Paul's look trivial. Paul was a loving father and he was terrified of Kody being hurt. He threatened to dismember me once because Kody fell over and bumped his head while in my care. Leah thought it was sweet, I thought it was frighteningly unnerving.

Mitchell snatched Kody up with his one good arm. During the fight against Stendahl's army, a vampire had crushed his forearm so badly that it didn't work properly anymore. He could put his weight on it when in wolf form but he could barely lift anything with it when in human form. I felt bad for him, seventeen years old and crippled, but despite his injury he was a happy teen and he had us to support him. He held Kody tight to his chest and moved to sit on the couch. Mitchell felt that since he wasn't as physically strong as he used to be then he could help in other ways, like being babysitter to Kody.

Soon there would be another baby for him to look after. Randy and Leah's. She was about four months pregnant and if Gabby's pregnancy was anything to go by then Leah only had a month or two to go. It turns out female shifters pregnancies were shorter than human ones. Kim was livid about how she'd had to go through almost ten months of being pregnant when Gabby had had just five and she wasn't too happy about how quickly it looked like Leah was going to have hers.

It was baby city in La Push at the moment. Gabby and Paul had Takoda. Jared and Kim had Howi. Randy and Leah were about to have one. And Emily and Sam had just announced that they were expecting too. It was baby galore and for those without an imprint it was not much fun. I wanted kids but without an imprint, without even a girlfriend, there was little chance of me having one anytime soon. At least I had Kody, and seeing how Ewan was living at my mother's, I got to see Kody a lot.

"Hey, Embry..." Randy called after he finished hammering in the last nail. He and Paul turned away from the wall and Paul made his way straight to Kody.

I looked up at Randy, "Yeah?"

"I have to go on patrols this evening and Leah was going out with a colleague tonight. I was hoping you could give her a lift to Forks and pick her up." Randy beamed at me.

I shrugged, "Sure. I've got nothing else planned."

* * *

I pulled up outside of the quaint little restaurant where I'd dropped Leah off about three hours ago. I could see her through the large window, sitting opposite a woman with long brown hair punched up in a messy bun behind her head. There was something deliberate in the mess of the bun and I liked it. The casual carelessness of it made me smile.

I shook my head and looked back out the windshield, at the pouring rain and dark sky. My mind was caught on nothing but it was caught none the less. So much so that when Leah opened the door I nearly phased in my fright. She laughed at me as she struggled to heave herself up onto the raised seat.

"How was your evening?" I asked as I tried to feebly help her into place.

She smiled broadly at me, "It was so much fun. Anastasia is probably one of the nicest people I've met in years."

The car stuttered before roaring into life and again I almost had a heart attack when someone knocked on the window. Leah rushed to roll down the window, letting rain flood through the window into her lap. The young woman from the restaurant was standing there, holding out something for Leah.

She was beautiful. Her haphazard hair style was completely opposite to the perfectly precise features on her gorgeous face. She was beyond imagination. So flawlessly beautiful, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Feminine perfection, that's what she was. Her slender fingers were wrapped around a flat metallic object and I could see the cherry red painted nail of her thumb. Manicured to match the stunning beauty of the rest of her.

"You forgot your phone." she laughed and my heart squirmed with excitement, "Is this Randy?"

I couldn't speak, I was too enamoured by her mere presence.

Leah broke my reverie with a high pitched cackle, "Oh, God no! This is Embry. He's Randy's cousin's long lost half-brother; it's a very long story."

"Hi Embry." she said sweetly and I almost died in the joy of having her actually speak to me.

I don't know how long I stared at her but I knew it had to be a while because Leah eventually spoke up and sounded very exasperated, "You'll have to excuse him. He's more than a little bit of an idiot. I'll see you at work on Tuesday."

"If you don't burst by then." Anastasia joked as she stepped away from the car. She was so unbelievably amazing.

Leah wound up the window, "What the fuck, Embry?! Please tell me that that did not just happen."

Life was a master at surprises. After everything I found my imprint outside of a crappy little restaurant in Forks. Not at all like I had expected.

* * *

_Author's Note #2:_

_So, I decided that this one would start of kind of fast, no farting around with any is she the one, is she not the one._

_It probably won't be as long as Two Halves but I wanted to kind of fix the ending. So you can think of this story as the significantly long end to Two Halves, as well as a story of its own._


	2. Chapter 2

I was sitting in Paul's kitchen, anxiously awaiting Gabby's return.

As Alpha she was the one we all went to, about everything. It got to Gabby sometimes, as a laid back young shape shifter she didn't always want to hear about every tiny little problem we had. It was a pack rule that if someone was annoying Gabby with an issue she'd already dealt with then they were banned from patrolling until they got their head back on track. Josh and Xavion had gotten into a fight a few weeks ago and we punished by having to patrol at the same time. When she phased to relieve them they had still been bickering and they were permanently relieved from their duties until they 'sorted out their shit', to quote Gabby.

She also forced them to display their submission to her whenever in her presence until they had sorted said shit. These displays consisted of many simply things; like not looking her directly in the eye, bowing their heads while she was around, and not moving or making sudden motions around her. More often than not though, they left the room whenever she showed up unless she ordered them to stay, which they would then do without a hint of questioning. Needless to say, their argument didn't last long. Not when getting over it meant that they didn't have to constantly worry about demonstrating their low standing within the pack.

But this would be good news to Gabby, I hoped. She hadn't been too impressed with Tilly, Josh's imprint, in the beginning. I had a strong feeling that it had more to do with how Gabby saw Josh than what she thought of Tilly. In that way I knew I was safe. I might be her younger brother but she'd never seen me as a timid four year old or an awkward teen. I'd only ever been a full grown shape shifter in her eyes, there was little chance she would be that protective of me.

I was certain that Gabby would be happy for me. Or at least, I hoped that my certainty wouldn't jinx me. I don't know what I'd do if Gabby reacted badly.

That was one of the things I missed about Sam and Jake's packs. The pack laws protecting imprints and imprint bonds. It wasn't that Gabby had said she didn't care about imprints or imprint bonds, it was nothing like that. I knew that Gabby was well aware of the feelings involved with imprinting. It was more the lack of an express acknowledgement that the pack had any sort of law about imprints and imprinting.

My biggest concern was that there wasn't a lot of experiences to go off in terms of how Gabby would react. Gabby's pack didn't really form until after most of the imprints had imprinted. Josh was the only one to imprint since the explicit formation of the pack. And it wasn't a good experience either. It had taken weeks of Josh pining over Tilly before Gabby gave in just to get a break from the depression that Josh was slowly falling into. The ends are promising but I didn't want to go through the stress of not knowing for sure if I'll get the same results.

Imprinting tended to reduce our capacity for logical thought, especially in the beginning. As it was I was having difficulty remaining calm and all that was wrong was that Gabby was a little late getting home; most likely Gabby and the others were just dawdling but in my head there was a plethora of reasons that were not quite as vanilla as a leisurely evening stroll.

All of my reasons included the beautiful and awe-inspiring Anastasia.

A vampire had found her and was hunting her down, and Gabby was on the vamp or Anastasia's trail. Or worse, the vamp had turned her. Or Gabby had lost control and accidently killed her, Gabby had little regard for humans she didn't know and that scared me a little. Or maybe it was something else, something far worse; shape shifters in Australia protected people against the occasional vampire but their main enemies were hellhounds, bunyips and yowies. The last two I had never heard of before I met Gabby but since she told me about them they had worried me. I was more worried than ever now, even though I knew that bunyips and yowies had never been seen outside of Australia.

The front door creaked open and a loud laugh echoed down the hall to ring through the kitchen. Kody's face lit up and he giggled at the sound. It was Xavion's laugh but even at just six months old Kody knew that Gabby wouldn't be too far away. He squirmed in Paul's arm and reached up towards his father's face in his excitement at his mother's return.

Paul shook his head and groaned, "He was almost asleep too. Now he'll be up half the night."

Xavion was the first to burst into the room. His curly black hair bounced around his shoulder, giving him an added air of jovial enthusiasm. Everything about him screamed fox to me, as that was his animal form, and his bounding gait reminded me of foxes hunting in the snow. He beamed at Kody as he pulled out a chair for himself but Kody was more interested in the young woman who had just sauntered in.

Gabby was tall and imposing, even in her current relaxed state there was a definite air of authority to her. Her now short butterscotch hair was ruffled after an afternoon patrolling and her bright hazel eyes twinkled as they found her son. She reached out to take Kody from Paul and I saw the black dirt that was wedged under her nails and stained her skin. Gabby was a devoted Alpha and mother, her family came first and she considered her pack to be her family. She worked herself to the bone to be a good alpha and a mother, two things that were surprisingly hard to be at the same time. It made me wonder how she would be should Kody one day phase.

She enclosed Kody in her strong arms and turned towards me, while mumbling to Kody in a motherly tone. A few seconds passed before she looked up at me and I felt my excitement grow. She was going to ask me what was going on and all I could think about was Anastasia. I was about to talk about Anastasia, who was now officially my favourite topic.

"So, why aren't you at your own home?" Gabby sounded as tired as she looked and I wondered if that would work for me or not. Thankfully she didn't sound angry or annoyed which was definitely a good sign.

Paul got up from his seat and kissed Gabby's marred cheek, "He's excited, go easy on him."

"I've imprinted!" I just about yelled at her, m excitement refusing to be withheld for any longer, "Tonight when I was picking up Leah. She's so beautiful and nice and sweet and-"

"Okay, I get it!" Gabby snapped as she took up the seat Paul had just vacated, "Do you know her name?"

I answered quickly and succinctly, "Anastasia. She's the Florist that works at the Nursery."

Gabby nodded her head slowly, "Have you spoken to Anastasia?"

My heart dropped a little, "No." I had been too shocked by the whole thing to get my mouth to work. Anastasia had probably forgotten that I'd even existed. I was just the tongue tied friend of Leah who was too stupid to even say hello to her.

"Well then, you'll have to find some way to rectify that. If you want I can give you a few days off patrol, so that you can look half presentable the next time you see her."

I could barely contain my excitement. Gabby was accepting my imprint. She wasn't going to fight this the way that she fought against Josh and Tilly. If things went well then I could be confiding in Anastasia about our little abnormality within a few weeks and we could even be living together in a few months, depending on how Anastasia takes the shape shifter thing. This was the most exciting time in a shifters life and I was glad that I was finally getting my chance to experience it.

"So you're okay with it?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Gabby muttered as she tickled Kody with her free hand.

Xavion answered for me as I was slightly distracted by my own excitement for this turn of events, "You didn't react very well to the whole Josh-Tilly thing."

Gabby shook her head and glared at Xavion, "Josh is fourteen and Tilly has just turned eighteen. I was more concerned with the age difference than the imprinting." Gabby froze and shifted her gaze to watch me from the corner of her eye, "She is of age, right?"

"Of course!" I squeaked as I jumped up from my chair and headed to the door, "I'm going home to get some sleep. I'll see you all tomorrow."

Gabby called after me, "Just remember that she's human, don't be too forward when you talk to her."

The next morning I woke up later than usual.

I wanted to be as refreshed as possible because I wanted to put the best me on display. It was imperative that Anastasia liked me. In my many years of liking girls I had never been able to successfully get a girl to like me if we had started out on the wrong foot. If Anastasia didn't like me to begin with then I was officially screwed. I don't know what it was but I just couldn't do it. I wasn't that smooth.

It took me twice as long as normal to get ready.

But finally I was ready and strutted from my bedroom to the front door.

"Well, well, well... don't we look handsome? Is there any particular reason?" Ewan chortled from the couch in the living room.

I hadn't noticed him there but I wasn't surprised. He'd been occupying the spare bedroom since a few weeks after his arrival, because mom hated the idea that he was homeless. Mom saw him as part of the family; seeing how I was her son, Gabby was my sister, and Ewan was Gabby's dad. It was far from a conventional family but mom seemed to really like it.

"Where's mom?"

Ewan stood up from the couch, a worried look on his face; he was a father through and through, "She's gone into Forks to do some shopping. Are you okay, Em?"

I nodded, "Better than okay. I met my imprint last night, I'm going to go talk to her."

Ewan smiled and clapped me on the shoulder with his large leathery hand, "Well, I'd say good luck but I'm sure you don't need it. Don't forget to go easy on her though. She is only human after all."

I laughed, "You and Gabby are so alike that it's kind of scary."

Ewan smiled and waved me off. I almost skipped out of the house and down to my car. Leah was working today and we'd already organised an excuse for me showing up. Leah had told everyone that Randy was a carpenter and I was going to say that he was too busy on a work site to deliver her lunch, which she'd 'accidently' left at home. I wasn't sure how good of an actor Leah was and I hoped that Anastasia wouldn't see through the whole charade.

Mitchell was playing with Kody and Howi in Randy and Leah's front yard, both Gabby and Sam's pack liked to use him as babysitter, although it was a rare occasion that Kim needed anyone to babysit for her. Mitchell didn't pay much attention to me but Kody noticed me and squawked as I walked past.

As it was Randy was lounging around his new house, supposedly taking a break from renovations even though his clothes were cleaner than I'd ever seen them before. Randy grumbled that the lunch was in the fridge and turned back to Xavion, who was arguing with Randy about the efficiency of having only two shifters on patrol at one time. Not that either of them were in a position to change the situation. Paul, Josh and Gabby were out patrolling, as Gabby had taken over my shift.

I felt bad but the thought of Anastasia soon shoved the guilt away.

It took far too long to get into town but then I had to take my time waiting in the car before I could get out and cross the road to the Nursery. My legs shook slightly as I tried to make myself look as confident as possible and my hands were so sweaty that I had difficulty gripping the smooth door knob.

Inside the store the air conditioner was blasting and the cool air was icy against my sweaty skin.

Anastasia was working at a tall counter, surrounded by large bright flowers and stems of flawless green leaves. She was working with a large ornate vase, I assumed it was going to be a display as most bouquets that were for sale were wrapped in paper or set in a gift box.

"Hello." I choked as I adjusted my grip on the container that held Leah's lunch.

Anastasia smiled at me and I could have fainted, "Hello, umm... Embry, right? How can I help you?"

I took a few steps closer but couldn't get too close, "Yeah..." I could barely believe that she'd remembered my name, "Leah forgot her lunch."

She laughed and I wondered if it was me or Leah's supposed forgetfulness that she found so hilarious. Despite my concern that it was me she was laughing at, I couldn't help but not how beautiful her laugh was.

I'd heard the thoughts of the others who had imprinted and always thought they sounded stupid. Their persistence that everything their imprint did was marvellous in one way or another had seemed stupid to me. I had never realised how truly infatuated they were with their imprint but now I did and I would never give them shit for it again.

"Leah told me to expect you. She's down the back at the moment so you can leave her lunch with me."

I could see my own hand shaking as I handed the container to Anastasia. She took it in her long slender fingers and placed it gently beside her workstation. I was suddenly so nervous that I couldn't think straight. My words were lost to me and I could barely mutter a goodbye as I turned to leave as quickly as possible.

I froze halfway through leaving when I heard Anastasia call to me, "Is that it?" I looked back over my shoulder and noticed that Anastasia looked a little down-trodden, "It's just Leah said... I thought maybe you were going to ask me out?"


	3. Chapter 3

I couldn't think straight. I had not expected Anastasia to be so forward. For some reason I had expected her to be polite, delicate and reserved. But I liked it.

"Wh- what gave you that idea?" I asked as politely as possible.

Anastasia blushed a little, "Leah told me that you wanted to. I mean, it's okay if you don't. I was just hoping that you would."

"Oh, no, I would like to-" I shook my head and took a deep breath, "Would you like to go out with me sometime?"

She wore the most beautiful smile as she put down the flowers she was working with and walked around the workbench. She wiped her hands on the pants of her denim overalls and stood facing me.

"I'm honoured that you asked and I would love to go out with you." She had regained the sweet, feminine fragility that I had expected from her.

I wasn't sure why it was that I expected her to be fragile. It wasn't that I was sexist and expected her to be weaker. It wasn't that I was only attracted to girly girls or that all I wanted was a housewife to take care of me.

No, I wanted a partner. Someone that I could share my life with and that would share their life with me. It was what the others had and I wanted to join them. There was something about the imprint that was pure and strong and I had never realised how much I wanted it until now.

I guess it was that the fragility was a sign. A sign that she was already comfortable enough around me that she would let her guard down. Comfortable enough to make herself look fragile, even if she wasn't. It wasn't the fragility, it was the sign that I liked. It seemed to bring home that this was truly it.

Anastasia was my imprint and I could barely wait to introduce her to the rest of the pack. Although, I knew that that would have to wait. Gabby was defensive around strangers at the best of times and I was still worried that she'd react to Anastasia as she had reacted to Tilly, and I wasn't sure how that would affect how Anastasia saw me.

I realised that Anastasia was still waiting for me to say something and my cheeks burned as I spoke, "Awesome." I turned to the door, desperate to leave before Anastasia noticed how nervous I was.

"Umm... Embry?"

I turned back to Anastasia and chirped, "Yeah."

"Maybe we should organise a time? Or place? Or at least exchange numbers?"

My cheeks were so hot with embarrassment that a blind man would have known my awkwardness. I had never been this nervous before, how was she doing this to me? Imprints were supposed to make the imprinter feel stronger but being around Anastasia made me feel like a child.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." I groaned as I waited in Gabby's lounge room.

Gabby was out with Ewan and my mom. Mom was sick of the to and fro and was trying to mend bridges once and for all. Paul, Randy and Xavion were out on patrol and Josh and Mitchell were taking lessons from Emily. And with Leah at work that left just me to take care of Kody.

This time alone meant that all I could do was think about how stupid I had been.

"I would prefer if you didn't teach my son such deprecating behaviour." Paul grumbled as he entered the room, how I hadn't heard him was beyond me.

Sam beamed at me from the doorway, "We heard the good news. Congratulations."

I looked down at my hands, "Thanks."

Jared laughed as he jumped over the back of the couch to sit beside me, "Okay, tell Uncle Jared what's wrong?"

That was the last thing that I wanted to do. Jared was a good guy, I liked Jared. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to him; it was more that it didn't feel right anymore. I felt as though I would sooner tell Paul intimate details of my sex life than tell Jared that I had been nervous around my imprint.

It was a pack thing. Jared and Sam were no longer part of my pack, they hadn't been for over a year now, and my natural wariness in regards to non-pack members was starting to show around them. It was most prevalent with Gabby because she was the one that I really wanted to talk to; she was my alpha and as such I turned to her when it came to the big things in my life. Although, considering that she imprinted on Paul, that might not be the best thing.

Against my wariness I answered, "I made a fool of myself."

"In front of your imprint?" Sam asked as he sat on the other couch.

I nodded.

Jared laughed again, "Don't worry about it. We all looked like idiots in front of our imprints at one point or another."

"This was the first time I've spoken to her. She must think that I'm an absolute moron."

Paul laughed this time, "You've been spending way too much time with the Aussies. Pfft... moron..."

Sam sat forward on his chair, "Look at us. Jared literally fell off his chair when he imprinted. I... I scarred Emily. And let's not even start on the whole Gabby-Paul shambles. Imprinting is not as flawless as the rest of you seemed to think."

"Yeah, I tried to send Gabby away and then proceeded to break the three bones in her arm. What did you do, mumbled a few words? I'm sure you're going to be fine." Paul explained.

"I thought I said that we weren't going to start on your relationship?" Sam said with mock annoyance.

Paul looked up at Sam, "Good thing I'm not a member of your pack then."

"Do you really think starting an argument is going to help you?" Jared questioned.

"I don't need help, this is my house."

I watched as Jared and Paul started to argue about arguing and was surprised about how little this surprised me. Sam kept an eye on me and the longer we sat there the more anxious it made me feel. A few years ago I wouldn't have noticed it but now that he wasn't my alpha any more it was just weird.

Paul was rocking Kody gently to sleep and was starting to get annoyed by the persistence of their lame argument, "Don't you have a wife to get back to or something? I know that you have a son that, for some unknown reason, probably likes having you around." I could barely contain my smirk at the slowly angering Paul.

He was normally so calm and collected around Kody, almost like an entirely different person. It was how he was around Rachel years ago and Gabby now. Paul's control was all thanks to imprinting, he'd still be the raving lunatic he used to be if it weren't for Gabby.

Kody gave a small giggle and my eyes were glued to him. One day that could be me, I mean Paul that is; holding my baby, rocking my son or daughter to sleep.

A nauseating thought hit me. What if Anastasia didn't want children? While I didn't want to be a father today I had always hoped for it one day. I always imagined having a couple of rugrats that would in turn give me grandchildren. The thought that my imprint might not want that had never crossed my mind until now.

What if Anastasia didn't believe in marriage? So far all the imprints had gotten married, except Jacob and Renesmee, although it had always been more to make sure that no-one started asking questions about how they acted around each other. Young adults as devoted to one another as two imprints are, was not quite normal; make them 'newly weds' and suddenly it all makes sense.

What if Anastasia didn't want the level of commitment that I was already willing to offer? I knew nothing about Anastasia and there was a chance that she had no interest in commitment.

"Embry!" Sam growled and Kody started crying.

Paul's shoulders tensed and he glared at Sam, "For fuck's sake Sam. Get out!"

Sam and Jared obeyed quickly, angry Paul was still a risk and everyone knew to avoid him at such a time. Kody was bawling his eyes out as Paul desperately tried to hush him. Behind me, I could just hear Sam and Jared greeting someone but then again, it could have been Jared reprimanding Sam for raising his voice in front of Kody.

A few moments later Gabby and Ewan walked into the room.

"Oh, dear pup. Give him here, I'll get him settled in his cot." Ewan cooed as he strode past me towards Kody and Paul passed Kody to his grandfather, although it was with the slightest bit of hesitation.

"What are you doing home?" Gabby asked as Paul got up to hug her, "You were on patrol tonight."

Paul wrapped his arms around Gabby's relatively slight shoulders and she rested her head lightly on his shoulder for a split second. Then she pulled away, gently prying herself out of Paul's strong grip. It must be strange for Paul, having an imprint that was just as strong as him must be a little odd at times. Especially when everyone else's were 'mere humans' and seemed so vulnerable by comparison.

"I bumped into Sam and Jared on patrol. Apparently, they've come across an unfamiliar scent that they can't decipher. No idea of species or anything. I've got Mitchell and Josh taking my place and trying to locate it elsewhere."

Gabby didn't look entirely impressed, "You shouldn't have done that. It messes up the whole patrol timetable. Please, go relieve those two little shits before they wear themselves out."

Paul kissed her forehead, "I'm sorry. I'll see you later and we can talk about the whole," Paul gestured towards Kody's room, "thing later." It was obvious that he meant Ewan, not Kody.

Paul left quickly and then there was just Gabby and I in the room. This was what I had wanted but now it felt just as awkward as having Sam stare at me.

"So, when is the date?" Gabby asked as she took up the chair that Sam had vacated moments before.

I gulped to try to regain some composure, "Tonight. I'm meeting Anastasia at the restaurant at seven."

Gabby nodded, "Good."

"Good?"

She furrowed her brow at me, "Yes... good. I mean, the sooner you start dating the sooner you can let her in on our little secret and the sooner things get back to normal. To be honest, I don't care if you tell her tonight. I hate this part of the whole thing."

"You hate it?" I laughed, "At least you knew about this crap before you met Paul. If I tell her then she may run away screaming."

Gabby watched me for a few minutes before finally speaking, "That's not what I hate. I'm not the most patient person in the world but I'd happily wait if that was the issue. I hate this because of what it does to you. What it did to Josh. Watching my family stress and knowing that there is nothing I can do to change anything is not particularly pleasant."

"Sorry, I'm just worried that I'll fuck this up."

Ewan entered the room, "The Carpet Grub is settled, he'll be out for a couple of hours. As for you fucking up, you've already done the hard bit. Now all you have to do is be yourself, I've never heard of two imprints that weren't instantly attracted to one another." Both Gabby and I raised our eyebrows at him, "You and Paul are different, you were each other's second imprint."

"I'm still a little freaked out about the fact that you imprinted on a dog." I said with a smile as I relaxed back into the couch.

Gabby stuck her tongue out at me, "Best imprint ever. There was no sexual component so there was no awkwardness. I was never as stressed about spending time with Argos as you are now, so what's more worrying?"

"Yeah, but isn't the point of imprinting to maintain the bloodlines?" I argued. Imprinting was still a mystery to most of us and we'd used Ewan for most of what we knew.

Ewan smiled as he sat back in the chair that Paul had cradled Kody in, "I don't think it is. I think it's a companionship thing. I mean, outside of Gabby and Paul there is no guarantee that any of you will have shifter offspring and don't get me started on the genetic mess that that Jacob boy would have if he got his imprint pregnant."

It turned out that the Aussie's disliked vampires even more than we did, although it was totally understandable considering the massacre that slaughtered the rest of their forty-something strong pack. I shivered at the thought of losing anyone from the three La Push packs and then let my mind wander back to imprinting.

We laughed and joked about imprinting for a good hour before both Ewan and Gabby wished me luck and I headed home to get changed for my date. It was make or break and I was nervous as hell but the talk with the two Australian shifters had been bizarrely helpful and I was able to leave my house with more confidence then I'd had since I first laid eyes on Anastasia.

Author's Note:

So, quick question, do you want details of Embry and Anastasia's first date or do you want to kind of skip to the crux of the story? I'm happy to do either so which ever you guys say you'd prefer is what I'll do.


	4. Chapter 4

"So what do you do?" Anastasia asked as she scanned the menu.

She had really dressed up for tonight and it made me smile. Her makeup was so flawless and natural that I couldn't see it, I only knew that she was wearing it because I could smell it. Her hair was expertly done up in a style that I couldn't name and didn't truly know how to describe past the word beautiful. And her dress was absolutely stunning; a gorgeous ivory dress that hung off her shoulders and accentuated her curvy figure. I had definitely imprinted on the most beautiful woman in the country.

Beautiful or not, this was not a question that I had wanted to be asked so soon. I had answered it a million times but this time I didn't want to lie, I wanted to tell Anastasia the truth. But I knew that she'd turn and run from the truth so I swallowed the burning guilt and replied, "I'm currently working as a Ranger on the reservation."

"Currently?" Anastasia peered at me over the edge of the menu and I could tell from her eyes that she was smiling at me.

I melted at the thought of her smile, I mentally slapped myself in order to answer without looking like a fool, "I'm hoping to one day join the La Push police department."

Anastasia placed the menu down on the table, revealing her dazzling smile, "That's very honourable of you. I could never be a policewoman, I'd be too scared."

"It's nothing, really. How long have you been a florist?" I blushed, pretty women like Anastasia rarely said anything flattering to me.

Anastasia picked up her menu again, although thankfully she didn't cover her face with it this time, "Officially about five years but I've always loved flowers. When I was much younger I used to dance around our garden and sing to the Rose Mallow, they've always been my favourite flowers. And I must sound like a raving lunatic."

I smiled to myself at the thought of a five year old Anastasia dancing around a garden and singing to flowers. I also couldn't help but like the idea that she'd just told me something that was slightly embarrassing. Either she was trying to make me feel comfortable or she was already comfortable enough around me to let her guard down. I didn't really care which it was because both seemed like good things to me.

"No, of course not. I think it's cute, we all do silly things when we're children. I'm sure my mom has an arsenal of really embarrassing stories about my childhood that she could use against me; should I ever put her in that state of mind."

Anastasia giggled softly, "So do you still see your mother a lot?"

"Umm..." I'd never been nervous to tell someone that I still lived with my mother but I was now, "I actually still live with her, and my half-sisters true father."

Anastasia nodded as she took in my comment but then looked at me with immense confusion, "Your mum and who?"

I set down my menu to explain as clearly as possible, "My biological father had a daughter with someone who wasn't my mother and that woman told the guy that's now living at my house, that the little girl was his. When he found out he maintained that Gabby was his daughter and so we consider him to be her 'true father'."

"Gabby? I think Leah's mentioned her before, is she the Australian chick that married the angry guy?"

"Yes and yes. They have a son now."

"Oh, so you're an uncle. I'd love to have a little niece or nephew but that's not going to happen. Ever." Anastasia sounded genuinely upset about this and I wanted to offer Kody to her in order to make her feel better, but Gabby would kill me for even thinking such a thing; I was sure of that.

I decided on the next best thing, keeping the conversation from stagnating, "Why not?"

Anastasia placed her menu back on the table, resting her finger underneath one of the items, "My sisters think that children are a burden, they like having their freedom and don't want to get tied down. I'm going to get the ratatouille."

The waiter had returned with his overly friendly smile and a pen and paper ready for our orders; we'd agreed to forgo entrees because the prices were ridiculously high. Actually, Anastasia had almost demanded it because I was ready and willing to pay anything for her to have a good night.

I glanced at the menu and chose a random dish, "The Sang Choi Bao for me, please." I just wanted him to leave so we could continue to talk in relative privacy.

"Was that veal, beef or vegetarian?" the waiter asked.

In my annoyance I replied without thinking, "Vegetarian."

Anastasia smiled at me, "I'm surprised, I would never have guessed that you were a vegetarian."

The realisation hit and I knew that I couldn't go back now, "Umm... I'm not really. But I like Sang Choi Bao without meat." My stomach gave an annoyed clench in recognition of my horrendous lie. I wanted nothing more than to call the waiter back and demand triple servings of beef with my meal but my pride wouldn't let me do that. Anastasia nodded and took a sip of her wine and I decided to continue our conversation before my stomach took control and chased down the waiter, "Do you want children?"

Anastasia looked a little startled by my forwardness but I had to know, it had been on my mind all afternoon, "I don't think that's really something that you talk about on a first date."

"I didn't mean 'do you want children with me', I'm just wondering. In general, can you see yourself with kids one day?"

Anastasia took another long sip of her wine and then paused for a few seconds before answering, "Maybe. I honestly haven't given it that much thought. What about you?"

I smiled meekly, "One day, when I'm a lot older, I'd like to have kids. I'd never given it much thought until Kody, my nephew, was born but now I'm fairly certain that I would like at least one of my own."

"I think it's sweet."

"What?" I was confused by her statement because I couldn't see how it fit in with the conversation.

Anastasia brushed a stray lock of black hair behind her ear, "How much you clearly care for Kody. I know guys who don't care that much about their own kids, let alone their half-sister's child."

"She may be my half-sister but we're close. We've been through a lot together." I said without really thinking.

"I thought that Gabby had only been here for a couple of years."

It was bad enough having to lie about my profession, I didn't want to lie about this too. I decided that a half truth was far better than a lie and quickly tried to think of a better phrase than 'my father was a homicidal maniac'. That thought made my hip sting and I unconsciously rubbed at the fabric that covered the scar tissue.

"Our father was not a good man. He hurt a lot of people, including me and Gabby. It's just not something that you go through with another person without getting closer." I said but I wasn't able to look her in the eye as I did. I hoped she took this as a sign of shame and not as an indicator that I was lying.

A smooth warm hand wrapped around mine. I looked up to see Anastasia smiling apologetically at me and it only made me feel worse. I couldn't keep lying to her; I had to tell her the truth, and soon. Or I would surely explode from the remorse.

"Let's just forget that I mentioned anything." she said sweetly.

I smiled at her, "It's okay. It's just... he's my father and..."

Anastasia shook her head, "Whatever he did means nothing. I can tell already that you would never hurt someone. You are not your father."

Despite the conversation turning to my lunatic father, we had a brilliant night. The food was great, the conversation was even better. And every moment I spent with Anastasia was another moment of pure bliss for me. By the time we were leaving the restaurant, I wasn't sure if I would survive being apart from her. Even for just tonight.

I walked Anastasia home as she lived just a few minutes from the restaurant. She shivered in the cold night air so I gave her my jacket and it melted my heart to see it warm her. But with every step I took the anxiety grew, because with every step I took, it was a step closer to having to say goodbye. Sure it was only for tonight but I didn't ever want her to be out of my sight.

"So, how many memories do you have of living in Europe?" I asked as she confessed that she wasn't American born, not that I would have cared if she was an alien.

Anastasia thought for a moment, seeming to count out the years in her head, "I've been in the States for twenty-one years, I don't remember much of Europe at all. It will always have this strange sense of home to me but I don't remember much."

"Can you speak any languages?" I wondered aloud without thinking.

"Eímai megalýtera apó ó, ti nomízete, xéro dekádes glósses."

I had no idea what-so-ever of what she had just said, or even what language it was. But the mere fact that it had come from her mouth made me smile and my stomach squirm with butterflies. She was so amazing that I wanted to kiss her right then and there but somehow I managed to control myself.

"What does that mean?"

Anastasia blushed, "I've had a great time and I hope we can do it again."

I reached out and took her hand in mine, "All you have to do is say when and I'll be there."

She looked up at me for a second before glancing over her shoulder, "This is my place. You have my number so you should call me to do this again."

"I most certainly will." I mumbled as the butterflies started to freak out again. I wondered if she wanted me to kiss her. Part of me was sure that she did but another part said it would be better to be cautious; I didn't want her to feel like I was rushing her. There was so much that she had left to find out and I didn't want to scare her off just yet.

As it was, I didn't need to make the decision. Without warning Anastasia raised herself onto tiptoes and pressed her delicate lips against mine. She smelt like flowers and tasted sweet like honey. Everything about her was so delicious.

"I'll be waiting for your call." She chirped as she turned away and skipped up her front steps, leaving me slightly dazed but oh so happy.

I loved imprinting.

'Embry!' Gabby roared in my head, 'Pay attention to where you're going; you've left the territory.'

I was officially back on patrol and had a feeling that Gabby was regretting letting me back so early. Not that she really had a choice. The scent that Sam's pack had found was still popping up all over the reservation and it had everyone on edge. It wasn't human, vampire or shifter and it was confusing everyone. Gabby had even let Ewan in on patrols and they had been strategising over defensive and offensive plans with Sam and Jacob.

To make matters worse there was another shifter in town and that shifters scent made Gabby feel physically sick. Rhys. None of us had expected him to return but he was somewhere nearby. As yet he hadn't crossed into pack territory but he had crossed paths with the scent that no one could identify and that was how we'd gotten onto him.

'Sorry. I'm worried about Anastasia.' I didn't need to admit this because everyone would have assumed it but I just loved thinking about her.

Gabby groaned, 'I get it but the best thing you can do for her is keep your mind on track.'

I could feel Gabby's concern for Kody without her needing to specify it. She may not have been particularly maternal when we met her, she wasn't even that nice back then, but she was a mother now and her concern for her son outweighed everything else. Even Paul. And Paul felt the same, apparently Jared did too.

As strong as the imprint was it did not come close to matching the bond between child and parent. I couldn't imagine loving anyone more than I loved Anastasia and it made me think that I wouldn't be a good father. There was no way that I would ever be able to put anyone before Anastasia, she was my world.

'Embry! I'm about ready to ban you from ever seeing her again. Get your mind on track before I do something you'll regret.' Gabby bellowed even though I would have heard her whisper it. I could sense through the pack bonds that everyone else was siding with her and desperate for me to get my shit together.

'We're all happy that you've imprinted but seriously, learn to prioritise.' Josh grumbled. My thinking of Anastasia only reminded him of Tilly and got us both reprimanded for not paying attention.

I wasn't going to be able to think straight until Anastasia knew the truth and this strange scent was gone. But I had to try, for Anastasia's sake.


	5. Chapter 5

"It's starting to get ridiculous, Embry." Gabby snarled over the dinner table as we went about setting it, "I get that you've imprinted but enough is enough."

We were at my house for the weekly family dinner. Mom was relaxing in the lounge room for once because Ewan had been determined to be the one to cook tonight. Mom refused to let him cook any other time during the week so he figured family dinners would be his night. Paul was trying to calm down Kody, who was screaming his lungs out because he was currently unwell. That left myself and Gabby to set the table.

The whole pack was starting to get annoyed with my obsession but there was just something about Anastasia that meant I couldn't think of anyone or anything else, ever. Gabby blamed it on childish infatuation but to me it didn't feel like I was any worse than any of the others had been. I remembered how childish and erratic Paul had been when he was 'un-imprinting' on Rachel and re-imprinting on Gabby. In comparison, my feelings for Anastasia were simple.

Everyone was always saying that when you imprinted, your imprint became everything. They spoke of gravity reversing and ties so strong that even Gods would have issues trying to break them. But somehow, my inability to think beyond Anastasia was too much. I found it infuriating that they couldn't seem to accept her and I was about at breaking point in terms of being yelled at about it.

"What is so wrong with me imprinting on her?"

Gabby sighed and dropped both handfuls of cutlery onto the white tablecloth, "I have nothing against you imprinting but you are... blinded, by something and I think it's immaturity. You can't see beyond immediate gratification. We don't patrol the area because it's fun, we do it to protect those we love."

"And I'm patrolling but you aren't giving me a break."

"You're not listening to me. Embry!" Gabby barked and the whole house fell silent, "You need to put Anastasia aside in order to protect her but you don't want to. Do you think that I'm ignoring or forgetting about Kody? Of course, I'm not. But when there are strange scents around then I have to push down my thoughts and memories of him in order to keep him safe. I'm not asking anything of you that I'm not already doing myself."

I was quiet for a few moments but I knew that Gabby wanted me to say something, I could tell by the way she stared at me, "But I've never felt this way before."

Gabby rubbed her face with an exasperated sigh, she was struggling to find the right words for what she wanted to say, "How many children do I have?"

I looked down at the placemats that I was setting down, "One."

"I get that this is new to you but that doesn't change the situation. The best thing that you can do for Anastasia is put her as far out of your mind as possible and focus on the threat that we're facing." Gabby gathered up the cutlery she had put down and looked away from me as she continued, "From now on, you run Tail with me and Xav. You remember Xavion? He's the pack mate that you led within a _hundred _ metres of a residential street in Forks. You know the one that was shot at by two hunters."

"I said I was sorry for that."

"There's only so much that sorry can cover and it ran out when you made a beeline for Forks. You have a lot to make up for so you better start trying; and I mean really trying, not this half arse shit that you're currently trying to sell as effort." Gabby was starting to get angry again and I knew that I would need a miracle to calm her down if I let it getting any worse than this.

I was beyond grateful when Paul poked his head out of the kitchen door, "Dinner's ready and Kody's finally down." I knew he added that last part in order to keep Gabby from continuing our argument into a full blown screaming match.

Before Paul could retreat back into the kitchen there was a knock at the door. He smiled at me and entered the dining room, reaching out a hand for the placemats I was still in the middle of setting up, "I'll do that. You answer the door."

As I headed to the door I could hear Gabby and Paul starting a low toned, hard voiced 'discussion'. I knew I shouldn't have but I smiled to myself, it was nice knowing that I had Paul to back me up. Nice but very confusing, because when we were all phased then I could hear how angry my obsession made him.

When I opened the door I was greeted by a wide eyed Emily, her stress evident not only in her face but in the way her hands roamed over her swollen stomach, "Sam told me to find Gabby, they've found the scent again."

I heard many things drop inside the house and barely a second later Ewan, Gabby and Paul were racing from the house. Greeting Emily as they ran past her and rounded the house. I said my goodbyes and then ran after them, leaving my mother and nephew alone. And on family dinner night, none the less.

It was annoying that I was not able to run Lead with the others. The options when tracking were Lead and Tail, Lead being the one in which you were actively pursuing your quarry. Tail, which was normally just Gabby and one other pack member, was essentially just a backup in case the quarry looped back to attack us from behind.

Sam and Jake both ran Lead in their packs. But we'd figured out after a few months that Gabby couldn't run Lead. Gabby's ability was that she was impossible to track, even Rhys who had been a master tracker couldn't track Gabby, and it turned out that her ability threw others off their game when she was too close. As a result, she ran Tail.

She often ran Tail with Xavion, and they were good at it.

You wouldn't think Tail would require a lot of skill but it was harder than it sounded. Tail was responsible for noticing all the things that the others missed as they concentrated purely on the scent trail. I don't think that they ever missed anything, but then again we wouldn't know if they had because all of us would have missed it. But the number of things that they had noticed, normally on hunts involving vamps, was very impressive.

This was my second time on Tail and I knew better than to think any even slightly negative thoughts about my position. But I couldn't hide the pang of regret as I watched the others disappear ahead of us.

There was more to worry about this time then who was Lead and who was Tail. This time there were to trails to follow.

Jake's pack were doing laps of Forks to make sure that nothing entered the town. Sam's pack were tracking the trail that had come closest to the La Push township and we were after the one that had been found to the east. It was heading towards Olympic National Park and seeing how we had taken over the northern half of ONP and the area north of Forks in general.

The sense of urgency pushed every thought out of my head except getting this job done. Well, almost every thought. I made note of my altercation with Gabby and kept my thoughts of Anastasia at bay. It was hard but Gabby seemed to sense that I was trying and she sent grateful and supportive feelings my way through the pack connection.

I was focusing so intently on following Gabby's lead and not thinking of Anastasia that I didn't notice Gabby and Xavion stop before they were hundreds of metres behind me. I skidded to a stop, inhaling a lung full of moist dirt and crumbled dry leaves. It made me sneeze uncontrollably until my nostrils were clear and I rubbed my paws over my muzzle to remove as much as I could from my fur.

'It smells burnt.' Gabby's confusion was etched in her thoughts as I turned around and headed back towards my Alpha.

Xavion's fluffy white tipped black tail was the first thing I saw as I made my way back, he was running around in circles with his nose glued to the ground. Gabby was sitting beside a thick pine, her head pointed up and her nose flaring as she tried to take in as much as she could.

How I had missed the stench was beyond me. It was the most awful thing that I had ever had the displeasure of smelling and I got a feeling that the smell was going to be almost impossible to forget. It stabbed at my nose and made my eyes water. A pressure grew in my throat, my body threatening to expel the contents of my stomach at the sensation that the scent created.

Gabby sneezed and coughed, it was impressive that she'd lasted this long without vomiting; she raised a paw to scratch at her burning nose. Her normally white-gold feet were stained reddish brown with blood and dirt, and a few stray leaves. The grime of the forest floor clung in streaks to the pale fur of her face and to the liver skin of her nose.

At Gabby's dirty feet was the open and bloody carcass of an elk. I could only guess that it was an elk because the head was missing and the feet had been effectively de-fleshed. The animal's ribcage was broken open, each rib snapped clean in two so that it looked like a vertical mouth of jagged teeth. Within the gaping mouth of broken ribs was a slurry of blood, chunks of pink through blue flesh and sickly yellow fat.

The sight of it made me cringe.

Gabby stood up and leant over the body, she seemed to be looking for something. It took a few minutes but finally she exclaimed, 'It's been scorched. Look at the bone there.' She telepathically indicated to one of the longest rib sections and sure enough I noticed the shrivelled, dry black remnants of flesh clinging to the bone.

How that could possibly happen I had no idea. Neither did Gabby. And the others, those still running Lead, couldn't think of any possible explanation. Whatever had done this, it hadn't had time to light a fire to cook the meat. Even if they had there was no sign of a fire pit or any evidence that a fire had been lit. But somehow the flesh was burnt to charcoal.

Xavion's timid thought came through and everyone, except Gabby, jeered the idea. It was too ridiculous to even consider his theory. Even Ewan thought it was stupid and if the wisest of us couldn't accept it then it seemed acceptable that we wouldn't consider it. This didn't sit well with Gabby, who looked at Xavion as affectionately as she did Kody, and her annoyance had us quickly apologising to the young fox.

'I doubt it, Xav.' Gabby thought gently, 'We'd have noticed a giant flying lizard if there was one around.'

Xavion was embarrassed by how we'd scorned his suggestion but Gabby's comforting thoughts settled him enough so he could concentrate on his work, 'But dragon fits, kind of. What else do you know of that can create fire out of nothing?'

'I'm sure there's hundreds of imaginary creatures that breath fire.' Josh sneered before sending remorseful thoughts towards Xavion at the anger that flared in Gabby.

Gabby sighed, 'I'm sure there's a logical explanation that doesn't involve dragons or the likes. Then again, considering what we are, it wouldn't surprise me if some deity was behind this.'

Ewan decided to be the voice of reason, as usual, 'Let's not jump to conclusions. Whatever is doing this is as real as we are. There is some animal at the end of this trail and all we need to do is keep on its heels. We shouldn't make any assumptions until then.'

'Hoof marks.' Xavion suddenly squealed and I turned away from the carcass.

It was nice to have a reason not to look at the disgusting scene, although I couldn't rid myself of the stench that clung to my nose. I hated just the thought of the unholy mess behind me, it was like something out of a horror movie and I half expected someone in a mask to jump out from behind a tree with a chainsaw.

Josh scoffed, 'You mean to tell us we're chasing a carnivorous cow?'

'I'm looking at track marks and whatever made them had hooves. I never said that what killed the elk had hooves but it might be riding something that does. I don't know, like a horse.' It was nice to hear Xavion stand up for himself, it didn't happen often but it made Gabby happy when it did, and by extension it made us all happy.

'Who knows? It may be a carnivorous cow. We can swap between human and wolf, that's got to be less scientifically possible than a cow eating meat.' Gabby pondered as she circled the carcass, stepping in a deep pool of blood. She jerked her foot out of the gunk and tried to shake it dry.

Randy chuckled as he flew over a fallen log, his nose still locked on the scent he was chasing, 'Mad Cow Disease came about because farmers fed meat to cows. Fuck!' Something had crossed the path that they were following and Randy almost lost the trail.

Gabby's hackles rose as the pack recognised the scent. Rhys, again. I could feel the anger and annoyance from everyone who was on Lead and I joined them in their disdain. Rhys had caused everyone a lot of problems and we'd essentially forgotten his existence after he left. It was a pain to think that he was back.

After a few more silent moments the Lead group hit the river and started to curse. They broke up to scour the river banks for the scent but somehow the scent was gone. Disappeared into the water like a platypus on the run. Gone from everyone's ability to sense.

Another disappointing hunt.

'Sam's pack just lost theirs too. Jake hasn't found anything around Forks.' Gabby groaned, 'I think it's time to go home.'

_**Author's Note:**_

Sorry for the major delay in updating. I'll try my best to update at least once a week from now on.


	6. Chapter 6

We regrouped at the carcass to let the others get a first hand whiff of the mix of unknown creature, elk excretions and scorched flesh. Everyone agreed that it was the single worst smell we'd ever experienced. After which we made our way back to La Push and a cold dinner.

Sam and Jared met Ewan, Gabby, Paul, and myself at my mom's front door. It turned out that Emily and Kim had decided to gather at mom's, to keep her company on family dinner night. What they hadn't realised was that Sam and Jared wouldn't be heading home any time soon and so the two imprints decided to call it a night now that everyone was back.

The pack Alphas and Betas left soon after we got back, to meet up with Jake and Quill and exchange notes. It reminded me somewhat of when the threat of Stendahl had loomed above us. All the packs being forced to work together, when we all openly preferred the company of our pack-mates alone. The thought of having to coordinate hunts with the other packs again made my skin crawl. I still classed them as friends but when it came to pack activities there was no place for outside friends.

Mom had managed to put Kody to bed in the cot in Ewan's room; if Gabby and Paul ever had night patrol together than Kody would stay here, although it depended on how Gabby felt about Ewan as to whether the cot was in Ewan's room or mine. But it seemed that at this point in time the conflict between the partially estranged father and daughter was put on the backburner.

Ewan exhaled deeply as he slumped into his usual armchair. He closed his eyes and for a few seconds I thought he'd fallen asleep; that was until he spoke, "Do you have another date with Anastasia?"

I smiled to myself, "I called her yesterday and we've got dinner and a movie planned for Saturday."

"How many is that now dear?" Mom asked as she settled into the couch, tucking her feet under her and angling her body towards me.

"It depends on what you count as a date. Officially we've had four dates but we've 'hung out', so to say, at least a dozen times."

Ewan still had his eyes closed and his arms and legs hung limply over the edges of the chair, "So, you must be getting close to telling her?"

He didn't need to specify what it was that he was referring to. It was at the front of my mind almost all the time, how Anastasia would react when I told her about shape-shifting. I was trying to decide whether it was better to tell her before or after I introduced her to the rest of the pack. I also felt that I should talk to Leah before I did anything, because if Anastasia reacted badly then it would impact Leah the most, outside of me that was.

"It gets closer by the day."

Ewan opened his eyes, "That doesn't really answer my question." He watched me for a few minutes before continuing, "Just remember that the omission of truth can be as harmful as a lie and waiting may not make things easier."

I shook my head and stared down at my hands, "I just don't know what to say to her. 'Hey Ana, just thought you should know that I'm part wolf, as is my entire family'."

"Obviously that is not the way to do it." Mom groaned, "But Ewan is right, the longer you wait the higher the chances are that she's going to feel like you've deceived her."

"But I am deceiving her, because the truth might make her think that I'm crazy."

"Risk and reward." Ewan mumbled as he leant back into the seat, "The greater the risk, the greater the reward. Otherwise it would be a no brainer."

I decided that since Ewan had brought it up, I may as well use his wisdom to my advantage, "How did you tell your wife? Gabby's mom?"

He smiled but remained otherwise motionless for a while, "She knew when she met me. Her father was a shifter, a Beta at that. I asked permission of the pack to use a corner of their territory and one afternoon she saw me. Our eyes met and... well, I thought I imprinted. Sometimes I still think that I did but I just don't know.

"My situation was nothing like yours but I can tell you this... when I found out that Gabby wasn't biologically mine, it wasn't the infidelity that hurt the most. It was knowing that the woman I loved had kept it from me for so long. Don't get me wrong, the infidelity definitely hurt but... the woman that I loved, the woman I married and had children with, had knowingly given birth to someone else's child but then proceeded to tell me she was mine.

"For ten years she had lied to me. I think back and I realise that I had just assumed Gabby was all mine, just as Anastasia assumes you are human. I may never have asked whether she was or not but I had no reason to ask. My wife omitted the truth to the point where she may as well have lied to my face every day that she went without confessing."

"But how do I actually tell her? It's the words that I'm struggling with, because nothing sounds right."

The only part of Ewan that moved was his mouth, everything else was as limp and lifeless as if he'd fallen into a coma, "My wife told me because she was paranoid that I was having an affair. I asked if her paranoia was due to her own inappropriate behaviour and she said she couldn't have known she'd get pregnant. And that was it. The cat was out of the bag and sometimes... sometimes I wish that the bag had never been opened."

"Okay, so I shouldn't get angry and yell it at her. I wasn't really planning on that but it's good to have a reason not to." I said, sounding a little short with the older man.

Mom gasped, "Embry! Apologise for that. Now!"

I frowned, I knew that I'd crossed a line but I didn't know what came over me, "I'm so sorry, Ewan. That was uncalled for."

"It's okay, Em. Love does stupid things to us, I'm no saint myself."

"It's so beautiful around here." Ana breathed as she twirled around the towering pines, her head angled to the sky as she danced, "I don't know why it's taken me so long to visit."

I smiled at her, "Well, you're here now so let's make the most of it."

She was grinning so broadly that it only felt right that I smiled too. She was enamoured with the environment around her and she moved as I'd imagined a five year old Ana doing amongst the Rose Mallow. I'd made sure to do some research on Rose Mallow and it had to be the most beautiful flower ever. I couldn't be certain whether I genuinely thought that myself, or if it was simply that Ana loved it which made me like it so much.

Today she wore a beautiful knee-length cream dress that was tied around her waist with a thick red ribbon and neat bow. Her black hair hung loose around her shoulders and fanned out around her as she span and twirled, as if mimicking the skirt of her dress. She didn't wear any make-up, which I loved because she always looked better without it; not that she ever looked bad. I was carrying her dainty red shoes, which she'd removed so that she could 'feel the earth between her toes'.

I was happy to just walk along behind her, watching her as she frolicked. At no point did I worry about looking like some sort of weird stalker, even though part of me was sure that was how I looked. It didn't matter to me what anyone else thought or said, because I was perfectly content to just watch my beautiful imprint as she danced, barefoot through the forest.

Suddenly my bliss was blown apart. I could smell it, the creature that we'd been chasing. The scent was not fresh, thankfully, but instead was about a day old. We were unlikely to find it any use but I was still unsure whether I should tell the others about it.

Anastasia stood in the middle of a small stream, its current barely strong enough to bother an ant. The water swelled where it hit her feet, the occasionally wave of clear water surging over her fair skin and arousing goose bumps on her perfect feet. She wriggled her toes in the water and laughed to herself.

No. It was an old trail and all we'd get from it was where the animal used to be. And with Anastasia in the area it would be risky to draw the attention of the others. Anything could happen and if she saw them then it would ruin everything; the bag would be open.

"Hurry up, slowpoke." she called out to me and I picked up my pace as I followed her.

She pranced upstream, her footsteps instantly erased by the flow of water. The only thing to tell me that she was here was that delicious scent of hers, like a thousand blooming flowers. To me she personified the plants that she worked with, so at one with nature, so beautiful and always smelling so sweet.

I was like a magnet to her. My legs seemed to move of their own volition and they only wanted to move in the direction of this mind numbingly beautiful woman. Every step she took I mimicked from metres behind her, eventually ending up in the stream, following directly behind her. I wouldn't have been surprised if I was stepping exactly where her footprints should have been, undoubtedly they would be engulfed by my much larger footprint. That was until we reached a stretch of stream where the leaves and dirt had washed away, leaving the slab of granite below it bare and smooth.

We walked against the gentle flow, the gap between us shrunk. Soon enough I was directly behind her, close enough to smell her hair as it bounced around her shoulders. I was surprised when she reached behind her to grab my wrists and wrap my arms around her body, not once turning around to look at me. I liked when she did things like this, when she asserted herself and took from me what she wanted.

Without warning she stopped and if it weren't for my heightened senses then I most certainly would have bowled her over. She let go of my wrists and turned around within my embrace, her body pressed closer to mine than it ever had been before. My heart started to race with her proximity and the feel of her warm breath on my neck was not helping things.

Her slender arms reached up to wrap around my neck, bringing us even closer together. She gave me a devilish grin as she rose onto tip toes and pressed her sensuous lips to mine. The sweet scent and taste of mint overtook my senses and I could barely contain myself. I pulled Anastasia into me and held her so tightly I thought she might spontaneously fuse into me.

She drew her hips away from mine and for a second I worried that I might have been a little _too_ excited by this turn of events. But our lips maintained their contact and I couldn't focus on much else for too long. Soon though, she was breaking the kiss and every fibre of my being was suddenly depressed.

All I wanted was her to be back in my arms.

Anastasia hitched her skirt up a little and slowly lowered herself into the stream. Her breath snagged in her lungs as the icy water soaked into her dress and froze her gloriously warm flesh. But she didn't falter in her movements as she lay on the rocky stream bed. She propped herself up on her elbows, watching me with dark eyes as she inched her skirt higher up her thighs.

I wanted nothing more than to drop to my knees at her feet and make love to her, as she so seemed to desire. But something inside me refused to let it happen like this. Our first union would not be so impersonal as to happen out here. I wanted romance because that was the least that Anastasia deserved.

It also didn't help my mood to hear the Aussie's kicking a football a couple of hundred metres north of here. The idea that they might hear, or that they might disturb us, made me feel sick. Their noisy game also reminded me that there were more shifters patrolling these areas now, than there normally was. And, while the Aussie's might be too busy with their game to notice any commotion from us, anyone on patrol would be keeping an ear out for anything unusual.

"No, Anastasia, please stop." I whimpered as I stepped forward to help her out of the water.

The lustful shade in her eyes was swiftly replaced with confusion, and her cheeks started to redden with embarrassment. Before I had a chance to touch her, she was in tears and struggling to get to her feet. Her dense skirt was heavy with water and she stumbled as she got up. I tried to help steady her but she was having none of it.

She swatted my hands away as she staggered out of my reach, "No! Don't touch me! I... I'm... Give me my shoes; I'll make my own way back to Forks."

"Please, Anastasia. Forks is miles aw-"

Anastasia cut me off as she snatched her shoes from my hand, "I don't care! I'd rather walk a million miles then spend five minutes with someone who's disgusted by me."

I couldn't believe that she thought I was disgusted with her. That couldn't be any further from the truth, "I'm not, how could you think that?"

She glared at me, as if questioning my sincerity, "Are you joking? I just threw myself at you. The fact that we're talking right now is proof that you're disgusted by me. What is it? Haven't you ever had a real woman before? Haven't you been with someone who knows what they want, when they want it?"

"I'm sorry if I've embarrassed you, it's just that..." Again she cut me off.

"Embarrassed?" she scoffed, "I'm not embarrassed. There is nothing wrong with my sexuality. I am a beautiful woman. It's you that should be embarrassed; because you're not going to get a second chance."

The thought that I was about to lose Anastasia scared me. And somehow, my fear made me angry. I bellowed after Anastasia, "Stop! Don't be so fucking stupid! I never said that I didn't want to, I just don't want it here. You're better than that."

She stopped and turned back to me, looking as angry as ever, "Better than that? What's wrong with this? What's wrong with partaking in the most sensual and beautiful display of love, in the most sensual and beautiful places?

"Don't tell me you're some sort of prude who think sex belongs in the bedroom, under the covers and with the lights off. Are you?"

"No but..." How do you tell someone that your family is likely to hear you having sex from over a mile away? I was not going to get angry and let it slip like Gabby's mom had, but I had to tell Anastasia something. I couldn't bear the thought of her walking off, angry with me. But I had nothing to tell her, "it's... complicated."

My beautiful Ana watched me for a few silent moments and I could see that she was thinking things through. She glanced up and down my body, and I could see something coming into fruition in her mind. Her face softened and she sighed sympathetically.

"It's alright." Maybe I didn't need to come up with something, because it seemed she'd come to her own conclusions, "You should have said something. I don't know why haven't mentioned it before. I mean, we can work on it. We can figure out what gets your motor running, together." She stepped in front of me, so close that I could feel her gorgeous breasts pressing against my chest. "And when we've gotten up a report then we can start the more adventurous stuff."

She kissed me. I was confused but I kissed back. As long as she wasn't angry with me anymore then I was okay with whatever it was she was thinking. Nothing she thought could be as bad as not having her with me.

Anastasia pulled back, "I have to ask? Is it only an occasional thing or have you never been able to... you know, get it up?"

I stand by my assertion, that nothing she thought was as bad as losing her. But this was getting very close to it.

Author's Note:

Please review. I'm not sure whether it's right to have Anastasia this forward but I thought I'd give it a try because I've never had a female OC that is that assertive. So what do you think?


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note:

The first half of this chapter is lemon, so if you don't like then you can move down to the passage break line thingy for the last half.

My heart was just about bursting out of my chest. I have never been so excited and so nervous at the same time. Then again, I'd never been in this position before.

I'd made reservations at the restaurant that we'd been to on our first date. It was our third month anniversary; Gabby told me that celebrating such 'anniversaries' was a waste of time but I knew that Anastasia would appreciate the effort, and the fact that I remembered the date. Sure enough, Ana was very appreciative. So much so that when I arrived at her door I was greeted by her beaming smile and she was dressed to the nines.

Well, she was dressed for what she wanted of the evening. I could see her lacy pink bra and panties through the sheer fabric of her white teddy. Her hair was down and perfectly straight, not a single strand was out of place. My eyes roamed down her graceful figure, to her expensive looking pink heels.

I had instantly realised that we would not be making our reservation and I was actually very grateful for that.

Now I was being lead into the bedroom and while I was eager for things to happen, I was also quite scared. I was scared that she would realise that I wasn't as inexperienced or awkward in this area as I had recently allowed her to believe. But I was even more scared by the idea that she wouldn't realise. I wanted to impress her with everything I did and I hated the thought that she wouldn't enjoy sex with me.

We stopped at the foot of her bed, where she turned on me and embraced me with a kiss so passionate and forceful that I almost fell over. She didn't break the kiss as she slowly unbuttoned my shirt. As she pulled it off, her lips strayed from mine, trailing hot kisses along my jaw and down my neck. She found the point in my neck where my pulse was strongest and focused her attentive ministrations to that point.

My body was on fire under her glorious touch. Trying to hide what this was really doing to me was taking its toll. Why? Because at some point I decided to try to pull off the whole sexual incompetency thing. I didn't know how much longer I was going to last, already I felt an almost physical pain at my desperate attempts to not show my excitement.

All of a sudden she pushed on my chest and I fell easily backwards onto the bed. She knelt on the foot of the bed, leaning forward to kiss my stomach. Her hot mouth worked its way up my torso, trailing her firm body along behind it. Again, our lips met and the passion that she'd broken moments before flared back into life.

Her hips ground against mine and my attempts of hiding my feelings started to fail. I could feel the blood rushing and my member slowly began to stiffen. Anastasia sensed the change and moaned into my mouth; she lowered her weight onto me, forcing our bodies closer together. The extra contact, the extra fiction, was beyond exhilarating.

I whimpered as she started to crawl backwards down the bed, maintaining as much contact between us as possible. Her hands found my belt as she continued to kiss and nip at my stomach. It was all I could do not to stop her and take full control of the situation. But she'd been so determined to 'help' me that I didn't want to stop her, now.

My pants and underwear gone, she gazed at my currently rather average member for a moment before lifting her gaze to look at me; with the most alluring, devilish smirk. The feel of her soft hands against the base of my penis made my breath catch in my throat. She kept her eyes locked on mine as she lowered her full lips to kiss my head.

In that moment I lost all control and my erection grew to the impressive size that I'd been holding it back from. Anastasia murmured something foreign in a clearly excited tone and it made me smile to hear it. She gripped my now engorged member in her small hand as she dipped her head to wrap her lips around me. The wet warmth of her mouth just about pushed me over the edge but I somehow managed to suppress the fire rising inside me.

She used her own saliva to lubricate my shaft enough to move her hand and she backed away, her hand massaging up and down my length. She looked up at me with the most seductive eyes I'd ever seen, "I think we're ready."

With her hand still stroking my member, she walked on her knees up the bed. She stopped when her hips were just about above mine and reached her free hand down to adjust her panties and I realised that they were crotchless. This excited me for reasons that I didn't quite understand.

But the amount of crotch in her panties was nothing compared to the sensation of her warm core embracing my member. I was not a virgin but it had never felt like this before; it had never felt so perfect, the fit of my phallus inside her vagina. We were ideally built for one another.

She sucked in a breath as she lowered herself onto me, taking me all the way in to fill her up. Her low moan was intoxicating to me and I reached out to steady her hips. Ana was having none of that, she grabbed my hands and pinned them to the bed as she leant forward to kiss me again. Her change in position changed the alignment of her core and it changed how she felt around me.

Slowly she started to move her hips, in an irregular but very pleasant way. Until finally she seemed to find a movement that worked for her and she started to repeat it. The sensation was so captivating that I couldn't entirely register what it was that she was doing, I just knew that I loved it. She must have too because within moments she was moaning so much that we'd stopped kissing; not that I was really capable of continuing it either.

My breathing was erratic and the moans and groans that I was emitting were worse than Anastasia's. But she didn't seem to mind. In fact, the louder I got the more vigorous her movement became. I started thrusting up, making Anastasia grind harder into me. This seemed to encourage and excite her, and knowing that I was doing this to her really got my blood pumping.

Ana leaned back, changing her alignment again, but the movement she'd struck on felt just as good this way. She seized my hands and planted them on her perky breasts. The feel of her erect nipples added to my excitement and I moved my hips harder. Our pace was building and our moans were getting louder.

Somehow, her walls tightened even more. Squeezing my erection as it slid in and out of her. She was suddenly screaming in a language that I did not know but I was not able to concentrate on her words with the sensation that was building within me. I struggled to maintain my composure but knew that I couldn't stop. I wanted to make sure that Ana was satiated before I let myself go.

In a movement that was not only unpredictable but faster than I believed Anastasia was capable of. I felt her orgasm wane and she pulled herself off of me. In the same motion she pushed her body down the bed and took me back into her mouth. It took less than a minute of her feverish attention to my genitals to get me over the line.

We crawled under the silk covers of her luxurious bed. We were both drenched in sweat but neither of us cared. As we came down from our erotic high, we lay watching one another. I fiddled with the lace of her teddy and her bra, and she giggled each time my fingertips grazed her skin.

"How was it for you?" she asked and I heard the tiny break in her confidence as she said it. This surprised me because I didn't think that my Anastasia would ever be insecure about anything.

I cupped her delicate, soft cheek in my large hand, "Beyond words."

She flashed me a meek smile, "Good, I just... I would have let you cum inside me but we weren't using protection and... well, you know."

I smiled at her and it seemed to calm her nerves, "Of course, we've still got a lot to learn about each other before we risk that." I hadn't really thought about what I was saying before it came out and once I heard what I'd said, my mood started to drop. We'd just made love, done the most intimate thing that two people could do, and I was still lying to her. Withholding part of me that she really should have known before now.

I felt rotten; but I also felt oh so good. How could I not after what had just happened?

"I have to tell her!" I bellowed as I paced the living room. I'd gotten home from Anastasia's less than an hour ago and I could not stand still, let alone sit down.

My mother was watching me from the kitchen doorway, she hadn't said anything but I knew that she knew what had happened last night; she wasn't stupid. I got a feeling she didn't entirely approve but it was clear that she was aware this wasn't the time for arguments about appropriate behaviour.

Ewan was the one trying to calm me but he'd long ago given up on using words. He'd sent Randy off to find Gabby, who was currently on patrol, because he thought that she would be able to help. Failing civilised conversation, she would be able to demand that I calm down and my body would be unable to refuse her. I knew that that was the only reason Ewan had sent for her, because every shifter in the area knew that Gabby would not be particularly sympathetic.

Ewan looked at me with gentle eyes, "Then we'll find a way to tell her. There's more than one way to kill a bunyip."

It was clear that the Aussies grew up in a knowledgeable and accepting town. Many of their mannerisms were adapted to a belief in the supernatural and it made us, as a pack, feel more united because we knew that we could turn to one another for anything. They made what I had once considered a curse, feel like a blessing; except for at times like these. It made me envious for how they grew up, for how they didn't have to hide themselves or go through the stress of not knowing what was happening.

"How? They all involve admitting that I lied. I don't want to do that." I was sickened by the thought of having to say those words.

Ewan got up and put a hand on my shoulder, sufficiently stopping me, "As I said, there's more than one way to do it. We'll figure out the best way, but first you need to calm down."

I shook my head as I listened to his calm voice, "You don't understand... I... I can't bear to see her hurt, but I can't keep lying to her."

"Then tell her!" Gabby snapped from the front door. Did I say that she would be unsympathetic or what?

I was still shaking my head as I turned around and watched her walk into the living room, "I can't. I can't tell her that I lied. I just can't."

It was Gabby's turn to shake her head, "Guess what? You did. You have. You are. You've passed the point of no return and you are just going to have to accept it, whether you want to or not."

"But what if she won't forgive me? What if I've broken the trust and she decides that I'm not worth forgiving?"

I could see the annoyance growing in Gabby's eyes. She stared me in the face and breathed with exaggerated irritation, "Bad fucking luck!"

"That's not good enough!" I screamed at her and instantly knew that it was a bad idea to do so.

But she surprised me with her answer. Her voice was calm and her body language was relaxed, "Well, we've only got one other option then." My hope spiked, "We'll hunt her down, tie her to a chair and make her take you back." My face dropped but Gabby didn't seem to notice, "I mean, you said yourself that she has no family around here. And Leah is in the perfect position to make up something about her quitting.

"We have the numbers and the expertise. And let's be honest, we'll all be a lot happier when you've stopped this bullshit. I don't really care if she wants it or not, as long as you go back to the pre-Imprinting Embry."

I wasn't surprised by what she was saying because for weeks I had heard, in the back of her mind, her disdain for my persistent whining and my blatant obsession. Despite the fact that she herself had imprinted she couldn't understand exactly how obsessed I was. I'd heard similar things from the others but it was definitely strongest from Gabby.

Everyone, except Gabby and Paul, would assure me that her annoyance was more because of her relationship with me than anything else. They said that this was similar to what she'd done to Josh but to me it felt different. Maybe it was because it was now aimed at me, but I hated it none the less.

Gabby was my sister. She was supposed to be happy for me. My happiness with Anastasia should be enough for her to accept my new relationship but the more intense my feelings became the more negative she became.

Something clicked. Gabby was my sister and she was happy for me. But my feelings were causing me pain, they were hurting me, and so it was upsetting her. Everyone knew that she wasn't the best at expressing her emotions but it was easy to see how her current reaction was just her way of trying to deal with the discomfort I was feeling.

I nodded my head, "Can I bring her here for family dinner this Friday?"

This threw Gabby but Ewan was on the ball, "That's a brilliant idea. And I have a Folk Lore that you could use as an icebreaker."

Author's Note:

Okay, so this one is a little weird because I've never tried to write lemon from a male perspective. So, what do you think?

It'll probably be the last bit of lemon before I start having chapters told by Anastasia, but that won't be for a little while.


	8. Chapter 8

Anastasia's hand tightened around mine. She had been a little nervous when I'd picked her up but now that we were walking up to my front door she was more nervous than I'd ever seen her before.

I didn't blame her. She knew about my messed up family, I'd made sure to explain to her all the complexities. She'd said in the car she was worried about messing up names but I'd assured her that it wouldn't matter if she did. My assurance seemed to mean nothing to her though because it didn't calm her in the slightest. I got the feeling that she was worried about my mother not liking her but she didn't believe me when I told her that mom would love her.

Seeing her stress made me wonder how I would react if I had to meet her family. Ana's parents still lived in Greece and they refused to travel anywhere outside of their homeland. Her sisters were much the same, although apparently some lived elsewhere, and had no intention of coming to North America, let alone Washington in particular. So I was in the clear there, at least for a little while.

Truth be told, if she wanted me to walk to Greece to meet her family then I would. I'd do anything for her, anything to make her smile and keep her happy.

Ana hesitated at the door but I gave her hand a supportive squeeze and she kept moving. I lead her into the lounge room, where most of my dysfunctional family were sitting, waiting for us. They looked up from the television, which was probably quieter than most people could hear. I hoped that this didn't make Ana suspicious; I didn't want her second guessing everything before I'd even started.

"Everyone, this is Anastasia. Ana, this is most of my family." I was grinning foolishly as I pulled Ana into my side, to comfort the nerves that I could sense were growing.

They all smiled up at us and their beaming faces seemed to calm Ana down. I set about introductions, once again advising Ana that it didn't matter if she couldn't remember it all right away. The house was going to be slightly fuller than it normally was, Ewan, Gabby and Paul were there as expected but Leah and Randy had decided to come this time. Technically there was no genetic connection between me and them but it was a last minute decision that would hopefully stop Ana from stressing.

Leah was still heavily pregnant, so much so that she found it hard to even walk. She'd stopped phasing and had had to take time off work. Her absence from work meant that her presence at dinner excited Ana. Ana had said, more than once, that Leah was the best friend that she had and she'd been quite upset when Leah had to start her maternity leave.

I let Ana sit next to Leah on the three seater couch, Randy occupied the third seat. There was a dining chair sitting beside the couch so I sat there, next to Ana as she delighted in being back within Leah's presence. Paul and Ewan had each claimed an armchair, and Gabby was sitting on the arm of Paul's chair. She excused herself a few moments after Ana and I arrived, stating that she was supposed to be helping mom in the kitchen.

A second later mom had come to introduce herself before disappeared back to the kitchen. I got a feeling that Ana took this as mom not wanting to associate with her and I knew I'd have to talk to mom about correcting that.

Dinner itself was delicious, but I hadn't expected anything else from my mother's cooking. Everyone seemed to like Ana and I never had to speak to mom about convincing Ana that she, mom, liked her, Ana; mom made every effort to make Ana feel comfortable and she asked a million questions. Mom wanted to get to know Ana because she was aware that I wanted Anastasia in my life, forever and for always.

The worst was Gabby, but I had expected that. Gabby wasn't bad but it was clear that she was still guarding herself and the pack. She barely spoke a word while we ate and when Ana asked her questions and while Gabby's answers weren't rude they were short. If she weren't my alpha then I certainly would have started an argument then and there.

"Well, the ultimate dream would be to own my own nursery. Work for myself, you know? Maybe try to bring some of the beautiful flowers that I grew up with, to America." Ana answered Ewan with a bright smile, "Do you have a dream?"

Ewan laughed as he stabbed his fork into the last piece of meat on his plate, "Of course, what's life without a dream? I dream about being there for my grandchildren, because I'm sure there will be more." he added with a nod at Gabby as he put the steak into his mouth.

Gabby groaned, "Not this again."

Ana giggled as she turned towards my sister, "You don't want more?"

"Kody's enough for me." Gabby sighed as she took a large swig of water.

It was Paul's turn to laugh and Gabby glared at him, "Not to mention that we've essentially adopted the Aussie's, particularly Xav."

Everyone at the table laughed, except Leah, and Ana looked at me for answers. I'd mentioned the Aussies to her but I'd never referred to them as 'the Aussies'. I stopped laughing and whispered, "Josh, Mitchell and Xavion."

But Anastasia's attention was otherwise occupied with something behind me. I turned around to see Leah poking at an almost full plate. Her face was contorted into an uncomfortable grimace and her free hand was rested on her distended stomach. There was no movement in her chest, she was holding her breath, but I could have sworn I saw some movement in the arm on her stomach. Randy was watching Leah intently as well, his hand rising to gently pat her shoulder.

When I looked up I noticed that everyone was looking at her.

It was Gabby that spoke up, "What's wrong Leah?" No one could ever say that she didn't care for her pack and I hoped that one day she'd be this concerned about Ana.

Leah was motionless for a moment before she glanced up at Gabby, "Fine. They're Braxton Hicks contractions. I've had them a couple of times." She was smiling by the end of her explanation and everyone was content to accept it, except Ana. The last time Leah had phased she had had some severe Braxton Hicks contractions and Gabby had suggested that Leah talk to Sue, who suggested she took things easy until the baby was born.

Leah and Randy had avoided doctors for most of the pregnancy; it wasn't easy to explain why her pregnancy was moving so fast. Not to mention that Leah's stubbornness meant that she wanted the same sort of pregnancy that Gabby had, and Gabby didn't have a single problem and besides getting confirmation from Sue that she was pregnant, they sought no medical help at all.

The conversation had just started to pick up again when a squeak sounded from just outside the window. It was Xavion. The time had finally arrived and it was only now that I realised how nervous I was. I'd somehow been able to ignore the fact that this was where tonight was going, it had been headed here for most of the week but it wasn't until now that it felt real.

Gabby looked at me and I knew that she wouldn't let me chicken out of this. I turned to Ana and took her hand in mine. This seemed to startle her and her eyes widened as I tried to find the words.

"There's something really important that we need to tell you... that I need to tell you." it was hard to get the words out because I was so scared of what she'd say in response. She didn't say anything so I continued, "I've been keeping something from you but I really need you to know."

She mumbled, "You're not married are you?"

I laughed a little, although no one else seemed to find this funny, "No, I've never been married. In fact, before you, I never knew what it was to love someone. I love you, Ana. Please, keep that in mind." She nodded her head fervently. I wanted to continue but the words were gone.

"Maybe we should show her?" Gabby suggested as she leant back in her seat. That was the backup, showing her. If I couldn't get the words out, which it seemed I couldn't, then I wouldn't need to say anything.

I nodded and helped Ana out of her seat. She was now very suspicious and didn't seem to want to take her eyes off any of us. They darted from face to face, trying to find someone who would tell her the truth.

We walked out the front door and made our way around the house.

In the back yard, hiding in the dark shadows of the forest, were the Aussies. They sat in a tight group, waiting for the 'call to arms'. As we approached them, Ana was staring hard at the forest edge, trying to decipher what it was that she saw. Ewan, Gabby and Paul jogged past us, removing their clothes as they prepared to phase.

Ana squeaked and fought her way out of my grip as she watched the three dinner guests burst into their internal canines. I turned away from my family members as Ana backed up to step into line with Leah. She spun around as if to grab Leah and drag her away, but instead she came face to face with Randy, in dingo form. Scrambling to get away, she tripped and landed with a heavy thud on the damp grass.

I hadn't noticed the movements of the others, my attention focused on Ana. But as Ana got to her feet she noticed them and I could feel her stressing about it. The pack had come to encircle us, my mom, Ana and myself. Leah, although still in human form, stood as a link in the loop.

"What the hell are you?!" Ana screamed at everyone before turning to me, "What are _you_?!"

I gulped but for reasons that I didn't quite understand, I'd regained my composure, "I'm a shape-shifter. We all are. But I promise you, we're not evil."

"I... I..." Ana stuttered as she turned to Leah, "Leah? What is this?"

Leah smiled, "It's the truth. I'm a shifter too, I can't phase because of..." she gestured to her belly.

Ana turned to my mother, "And you?"

"I only found out about all of this a year ago. It's confronting but you're safe here, and my son loves you like you cannot believe."

Ana turned back to me, she still sounded angry but she also sounded like she was starting to accept it, "You lied to me. Why?"

I sighed, "Would you have believed me? Would you have ever agreed to go out with me, if you knew?"

She didn't answer, instead she turned to Leah, "_You_ lied to me! I thought we were friends."

"We are. It's not easy to tell people about this, so we try to keep it amongst people that need to know." Leah's jaw clenched as she finished.

"And why do I need to know?" she yelled.

I took a deep breath, "I've imprinted on you. I love you with all of my heart, with all of my soul. I want to be with you and I want you to know everything about me. That includes this."

Ana cringed, "I let you into my bed."

"And I should have told you first but... I was weak. The idea of you being angry with me, it made me sick. I never want to see you hurting; I'd die to save you from pain."

"Really?" Ana mumbled and looked at me with hopeful eyes, I nodded. She gulped, "I love you too. I don't know why but... since the day I saw you, when you picked up Leah from the cafe... I'm not a confident person. I never have been but when I'm with you... you make me strong. I wish you'd said something sooner."

I wasn't sure what I was hearing. Was she accepting this or was she breaking up with me?

She strode towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling her face up so that she could kiss me. It was a sweet kiss but it lingered. I don't know how long we stood there but when we pulled away from one another all the attention was off us.

Randy was standing, naked, beside Leah, who was doubled over. She was holding her stomach and I could smell a strange scent wafting from where she stood. Gabby strode past us, also naked and dropped to the ground to look Leah in the face. They didn't share a single word before Gabby stood up.

"Get her to Sue. Now!"


	9. Chapter 9

Gabby's POV

Tonight had not gone as we'd planned, not that I'd agreed with the plan in the first place but I'd still hoped that it would work, for Embry's sake. I had been joking when I suggested holding her hostage and forcing it upon her but when push came to shove we knew that there were few other options. Embry was too chicken shit to say it out loud and even if he could, would she have believed him without seeing it herself?

I surely doubted it.

Ewan said that it had worked before, that as long as we weren't threatening her then she would at some point realise that we weren't dangerous. All I could think about was the time that the Cullens had surrounded me, they had been trying to stop me from running away, they didn't intend to hurt me but even prior to a certain individual getting too into the 'hunt', I had been afraid of them. Forcing anything on a person, whether it be a physical action or a mental or intellectual change, was still threatening.

It seemed to have worked though, so I guess I couldn't be too upset about it.

The major upheaval was something that everyone had been expecting but still scared the crap out of us. Leah went into labour.

I was trying to help Sue to help Leah. Sue, with her years of nursing experience, had been there for most of Kody's birth and it only made sense that she'd be here for Leah too, especially since she was Leah's mother. Randalph had tried to help but he'd been worse than useless and even calm and collected Sue ended up bellowing at him. He was now waiting in Sue's lounge room, hearing everything that was happening but unable to do anything. Paul had been just as useless when it was our son being born and he said that the waiting was the worst part. At least Randy had something to do now but I was sure the extra wait wasn't helping him.

"Okay, baby. You're almost there, just one more big push." Sue said in a low motherly tone.

I'd kicked everyone out of the room by this time and I was impressed by how well Leah was handling everything. The pain was so overwhelming that I knew I'd physically lash out at anyone within reach at this point. But Leah was lying there, concentrating solely on what was happening in her body; her labour seemed to be a lot shorter than mine but I wasn't complaining. I figure that it was all the same amount of pain, only hers was being crammed into half the time.

Leah's body relaxed as her mother wrapped the new born in a blanket. It took a few seconds for the child to make a noise, but once it did, it bellowed. I pressed myself to the corner, not wanting to interrupt Leah's introduction to her baby. I inched towards the door and opened it, calling for Randy to come back, again.

He rushed into the room, taking great care not to move too abruptly. Without a single glance at anyone other than his imprint, he made his way to the chair beside the bed and sat down. Handing Leah her first born, filling her arms with her two beautiful infants.

I was so glad that I wasn't Leah; one baby was bad enough, although I'd never tell her that.

The walk back to Tiffany's was amazingly quiet and serene after the chaos of Sue's. I'd given both Randy and Leah a week off to acclimatise to the changes in their household but told Randy that he couldn't have any more time than that. As I was leaving, Seth arrived. He was bouncing with his excitement and I couldn't help but smile at him.

When I walked in the door, all eye turned to me. I smiled at everyone but didn't say anything. I needed to sit down a moment with some silence to get my head straight. Paul lovingly gave up his seat, just as Kody started to squawk from Ewan's bedroom; again, Paul was happy to go see to him. He's shifter hearing meant that he'd be able to hear whatever I said while he was gone.

"Well?" Anastasia snapped after a few quiet moments. She was cuddled up beside Embry, both her petite hands holding his massive left one, while his right arm was draped around her waist.

I didn't like Anastasia.

I sighed, "Leah is fine. She and Randall are fine. As are the twins."

"Twins?!" Tiffany gasped, a huge smile spreading across her face.

I nodded simply, it was strange the affect that witnessing my packmate's labour had had on me. I put it down to the whole night being a tad on the bizarre side, even for us.

Anastasia turned to Embry and his face seemed to soften even more as he looked down at her wide eyes; this was a problem because if his face continued to soften like that it was going to slide right off his head and I kind of needed my third-in-command to have a face.

"Twins." she whispered in an airy tone, "I'm so excited. We'll have to go over and see them."

"Not today you won't." I growled and Anastasia gave me the greasiest look she could muster, "Mum, Dad and the babies need to rest. You can see them on Monday."

Anastasia was definitely not happy with me and she snarled back at me, "I think that should be up to Leah, not you. What gives you the right to make such demands?"

I twitched my head at Embry, indicating that this was something he should have explained and so it was his job to do it now. Embry flashed me a pitiful grin and turned to Anastasia, he squeezed her hands to get her attention. As she turned to him her emotions became gentle and cheery.

"Gabby is our Alpha. Her word is the law. They'll still be babies on Monday, I promise."

Anastasia's mouth dropped and she turned to look at me, a hard set to her eyes as if she were finding me somehow inadequate, "You're an Alpha? Aren't Alpha's normally male?"

"Not necessarily." Ewan answered before I could yell at her, "In wolf packs there's normally two Alphas, one male, one female. In our society it is simply the strongest, fittest individual with the most dominance, and in our pack that means Gabriella."

Anastasia didn't seem to like that answer and I found myself disliking her more by the second. There was just something about her, something about the way she spoke, the way she held herself. There was something off and I couldn't quite place it. I was willing to accept that it was more a case of me not used to outsider humans, because I could tell that everyone else liked her, but when I watched her I got the feeling that there was something different... something I'd never encountered before.

It was a quality of some sort. I wasn't sure if it was good or bad but I didn't like that I didn't know. I could never be comfortable around things that I didn't understand and I really didn't understand why it was that I disliked this young woman.

Until five minutes ago, she had been nothing but civil. She was charming, smart and seemed very honest. It was clear to me that she had strong feelings for Embry and that meant a lot to me, to know that his feelings were being reciprocated. She was educated and had a good plan for where she wanted to be in life; she knew what she wanted and how to get it. Not to mention that she was very pretty, with a fine featured face and long glossy black hair. I'd never seen someone quite as elegant as Anastasia.

Still, I didn't like her. Or maybe it was that I didn't want to like her. I'd gotten a similar feeling about Tilly when I first met her. A strange distaste for the young girl that didn't seem to be grounded in anything. She was just a sweet young girl who loved Josh and was in turn loved by Josh, but I'd felt that she was unlikable, she was wrong somehow.

I wanted to say that this was the same thing but after seeing Anastasia's bitter turn, I started to think that it wasn't. But maybe that was because now I had something about her that I actually didn't like. This was why I didn't like meeting new people, because I had trust issues and always sought out people's flaws, especially when they were hard to find.

"I think we should get going. It's almost midnight and you've got work tomorrow." Embry bubbled as he shifted his position on the couch.

Anastasia nodded and got to her feet, "Well, I've had a very... interesting night. It was a pleasure to meet you all." I noticed that her eyes swept the room when she said that, making eye contact with everyone except me. She continued without another look in my direction, "I hope to see you all again soon."

Embry lead Anastasia out of the room and I couldn't help but feel that I shouldn't be letting him go. I should take her home; make sure she knew that I was not someone to be disrespected.

But Paul entered the room as they left, a red eyed Kody in his arms. I knew I couldn't leave, I had more important things to take care of then one insolent human bitch. I got up and took Kody from his father, I loved Embry but he would never mean more to me than the beautiful boy that I held in my arms now.

"Maybe we should be going too; I don't think he's going to sleep well tonight." Paul sighed as he ruffled Kody's mess of black hair.

I nodded my agreement and turned to Tiffany, "Thank-you for dinner, it was nice to actually make it through the whole thing for once." Tiffany laughed as she got up to kiss Kody good-night. I turned to Ewan and the three young shifters that had been murmuring to themselves in the corner ever since I'd gotten back, "I'll see you four tomorrow. Remember, Ewa-" I saw Tiffany frown from the corner of my eye, "Dad and Mitchell, you start patrol at dawn. Josh, you'll be taking over Randy's shift tomorrow. I'll rearrange the schedule later so for the moment be prepared for extra runs."

Paul and I left quickly, the longer Kody was awake the harder it would be to get him back down. We walked in silence to our quaint little house and then we went our own ways. Paul popped next door, to the Littlesea residence to tell Collin to tell Sam that Randy would be off patrols for the next week and explain why. I went about trying to get Kody to sleep, it took ages and I hated myself for not been able to help him more. I had no idea what he was sick with but he was sniffly and miserable and I can't tell you how horrible it is to see your child in that much discomfort.

When Paul got back he came in to help me, but still it was ages before Kody quietened and almost just as long before he actually fell asleep.

Paul helped me to my feet and then lead me to our bedroom, I could have made it there myself but sometimes it was nice to just hold hands and let him pretend he wore the pants in our relationship.

He closed the bedroom door, which annoyed me because I knew he knew that I didn't like shutting myself away from Kody when he was unwell. But Paul turned to me with gentle eyes and a frown, "What happened? You've been acting weird all night."

I sighed and looked down at my hands, "I don't know. I just... I don't like Anastasia."

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me. This, again?"

I glared at Paul, "Don't use that tone on me. There is something off about her."

"What, like there was something off about Tilly? The girl that you now let babysit your child. Because there was something off about her too, remember?" I could tell that Paul was getting annoyed and that pissed me off, because I knew that this was stupid but I couldn't help how I felt.

"No, not like then. I'm sure you heard her not too long ago. She was disrespectful."

"I don't blame her." Paul yelled before taking a deep breath to regulate his tone, "All she wanted was to see her friend, who has just given birth and you start ordering her around like she's one of the pack."

My annoyance was growing and I sneered at Paul, "I'm sorry, am I supposed to make exceptions for her? She's an imprint of the pack and so she _is_ one of the pack."

Paul seemed to concede to this but he was nowhere near finished, "But that wasn't until the end, you've been weird since she stepped through the front door. What could she have possibly done to piss you off? Was her dress too short or something?"

"What the fuck, Paul? That was entirely uncalled for, you know that I don't think like that. Anyway, what's wrong with me disliking her? I don't have to like everyone."

Paul was fuming already, his jaw clenched tight and his face harder than it normally was, "That's just it. You don't like everyone, in fact you seem to hate everyone from the second you meet them and every time it ends the same. You end up liking them, fuck, you had a child with someone that you wanted to tear to shreds just for the hell of it. Don't you see that your first instincts can't be trusted? You're not stupid, so why are you still doing the same old thing?"

"This is different!"

"They're always different." Paul growled before he stopped and took a deep breath, "I love you to bits, Gabby. But you have major trust issues, can't you just back off for once and let others decide if someone is worth the effort to get to know."

I was unable to look him in the eye as I mumbled, "She accepted it all so quickly though."

"So did Kim. She didn't miss a beat, just embraced it like she was born into it the same way you were. Just because she didn't react the way you expected doesn't mean she's a bad person."

"I can't help it, Paul. It's my job to protect the pack. To protect my son. I can't do either of those without trusting to my gut instinct."

Paul stepped up to me, raising my head to look him in the eye, "Trust my instincts then. You know I'd never do anything to hurt you or _our_ son." He kissed me, swiftly and passionately, and over the next hour, he helped me to forget that Anastasia even existed.

_Author's Note:_

_I'm thinking of stopping one of my current stories, either this one or my Hunger Games one, so if you don't want me to put this one on hiatus then please review._


	10. Chapter 10

Embry's POV

I stayed with Anastasia that night. We didn't do anything but that was mainly because of me, I was worried that she would freak out half way through and it would ruin everything. I was so surprised at how this had all gone down and I didn't want to do anything to jeopardise the good result that I currently had.

The next morning I drove Ana to work. I didn't have patrol duty until later in the day so I mulled around in the air conditioned store. It was easy to see why she smelt so good; spending her days amongst the beautiful scents of blooming flowers left her drenched in the delicious, soft smell.

She was a gifted florist, her arrangements were unbelievably good. Her spatial awareness was perfect and she had an eye for detail, making her arrangements spectacular first time every time. It took her barely any time to complete even the most elaborate pieces, all of which she'd sketch beforehand.

Ana was an artist.

After lunch I had to leave. Gabby wasn't too impressed with Ana's attitude last night and I had a feeling that if I turned up late for my patrol she would be even less forgiving than usual. The last thing that I wanted was to get on Gabby's bad side and I didn't want her to have another reason to be annoyed with Ana.

The drive back to La Push was long and lonely. Every time I had to leave Ana, it ruined my day and I longed for the day when we would be living together. I knew it would happen, now that she knew everything there was little that would stand in our way. That thought alone made it bearable to walk away from Ana today.

No one was home when I pulled up and that made me a little nervous. Ewan wasn't supposed to be on patrol, he was supposed to be babysitting Kody, which meant that something had to have happened. I ran to my room and changed out of my clean clothes, I had certain shorts that I wore patrolling because I didn't mind if they got dirty.

Once in the forest I stripped off my patrol shorts and phased, only to be greeted by the panicked thoughts of six shifters. The creature we had been chasing for the last few months was back and we now had a much better idea of what we were after.

Xavion had been patrolling the southern border of our territory, north of La Push, when he stumbled across four barrel-chested, thick legged horses; one palomino, one dun, one chestnut and one blood bay. Xavion liked horses so he took a few moments to watch them as they sauntered across the small section of open grassland a couple of hundred metres south of Dickey Lake. They weren't grazing but rather they seemed very alert to their surroundings as they made towards the dense forest that dominated most of our territory.

Out of nowhere a large black and tan dog burst from the tree line to Xav's left, making a beeline straight to the four horses. Xavion was distracted by the scene and decided to stop the black and tan dog. As he fell into line behind it he was engulfed with a mixture of scents. The creature that we had been chasing was in that mix.

Finally, we had a visual of the animal that was creating so much havoc.

The big question, now that we knew what the animal was, was what we were going to do about it. No one seemed to be able to agree.

Gabby was a proponent for letting the animal be, as long as it didn't come too close to any of the settlements in the area; she was even willing to focus our packs attention on Neah Bay, to protect the Makah people.

But it seemed that Sam and Jacob had different plans. Jacob wanted to kill it, take the threat away entirely and end all the crap about patrols. Sam wanted to chase it away, force it from the state so that it knew that this area was off limits.

I hated to admit it but I kind of agreed with Jake. If we left it to roam around the territory then there was every chance that a person would get hurt, possibly even an imprint. This dog was able to bring down a full grown elk, I was sure that it would have no problem against one of our people. If we chased it away then there was no guarantee that it wouldn't come back. As far as I was concerned it was better safe than sorry.

'It's a living animal, Embry.' Gabby growled, 'It's just trying to survive. Until it makes a direct threat on human life, we should leave it be.'

It was clear to our pack that she didn't actually mean it; it was a stop gap to get them to leave the animal alone. If it did attack a human then she would still defend it, although I liked to think that she would eventually see reason should this creature attack someone innocent.

I didn't see the point in taking an unnecessary risk, not when there was so much to lose. If it were something small, something insignificant then fine, but this was a wild dog, it was not small and it definitely not insignificant. It was irrationally dangerous to do nothing about it.

'Good thing you're not Alpha then.' Gabby snarled before turning her attention back to Sam and Jacob, 'As far as I'm concerned there is no threat from this dog. It's never once made an attempt at anyone's life and it ran straight past Xavion earlier. If it were a threat then it would have reacted to Xav but it didn't.'

Gabby was silent as she listened to Jake, I knew it was him because I could hear her anger towards him rising the longer she waited. I could tell from her thoughts that Jake was nowhere close to her and I was thankful for that. The last thing we needed was a physical altercation between two Alphas. Not to mention that I liked Jake and I didn't want to see him hurt; if he got into a fight with Gabby that was guaranteed to be the outcome.

'Oh, fuck you, Jacob. You have the least to fear from this thing. You're a shifter and your imprint as a fucking Glitter Monkey. The two largest packs are centred around La Push and your insinuation that your father isn't safe is an insult not just to me but to every shifter that lives here.'

Paul was with Gabby and he was trying to keep her as calm as possible, 'Settle down, Gabs. We all know Jake is an ass.'

I was halfway to where my pack had gathered and I came across the scent that was causing so much drama. It seemed strange that a few days ago we were intent on killing this thing and now Gabby was advocating letting it live. I wondered whether or not I should follow the trail but the answer came quickly.

'NO!' my Alpha barked and I knew that I wouldn't dare defy her, 'I'm over this argument, okay? The way I see it, there is one simple solution to our problem. You two can do whatever you want but if it's in my territory then you're to leave it alone. If either of you even try to attack or chase it when it's on my land, I will not hesitate to order an attack on you.

'In fact, let's make this easy. As your Alpha, I demand that you protect all animals on our territory from all other shifters. If you have to, draw blood, but do not hold back.'

Everyone could feel the Alpha voice in the command and we all knew that we would have no choice in the matter. If Jake tried to hunt anything within our borders then, friend or not, I would be forced to chase him off. Possibly even attack him. I didn't like the thought of that.

'Is that really necessary?' Ewan questioned and I couldn't help but think that it was an incredibly stupid thing for him to do.

I reached my pack just in time to see the large buff coloured wolf launch itself at the snowy dingo. Ewan scrambled backwards, trying to get out of Gabby's way; he didn't want to have to fight his daughter so he was willing to step down rather than to attack her. Gabby didn't care whether he wanted to fight, Jacob had rubbed her the wrong way and she had been waiting for someone to take her anger out on.

It did not surprise anyone that Gabby and Paul got along so well, they were so similar. Both were aggressive, quick on the offensive, and unfortunately for everyone else, they were very adept at fighting. Even when they were outweighed or outranked, they put up a hell of a fight and if they were to lose, it would not be without taking their pound of flesh from their opponent, sometimes quite literally.

Within seconds Gabby had Ewan, her father and mentor, pinned to the forest floor. Myself, Paul and the three Aussies just watched, it was not our place to step in and no one was stupid enough to try. I cringed as Gabby beared down on Ewan; he was helpless as her jaws clamped around the ruff of his neck. She wasn't going to actually hurt him but she was determined to drill into him that she was Alpha and Ewan, with his tentative position in the pack, had no right to question her.

Ewan whimpered and Gabby's body relaxed. While it was a violent outburst, it was over in seconds, as were most intra-pack disputes. But Gabby didn't step back straight away; she lingered over the older shifter, staring down at him with cold eyes and silent thoughts. It was always strange to hear nothing from your Alpha, as they are normally the loudest and most prominent voice in your head.

'Fuck it!' Gabby suddenly roared and she leapt over Ewan's huddled mass, racing towards the south-east border of our territory, 'I swear to God, Fang Banger, whatever you put over the border I will bite off.'

The whole pack followed her, desperate to stop her but also too scared to push her. Something was really upsetting Gabby, something that nobody could quite put their finger on, and it was pushing her back into that volatile wolf that we'd first met over a year ago. Paul's memory flashed back to the tear in his lip that had forced him onto the sidelines for almost a week when he insulted her parents.

Gabby must have heard the thought and she skidded to a halt. Guilt and shame. That was all that we could get from Gabby as she stood in the middle of the forest. It was an odd sight to see such a large and dominate wolf standing stock still, as if frozen to the spot. She shook her head and sat down, still staring blindly ahead.

'Gabby?' Paul sighed as he stepped up beside her, 'What's wrong Gabby?'

She was silent for a moment before she shocked everyone with her sudden movement. She stood up, 'If the dog is on our territory, then you are to leave it the fuck alone. I've got a son to take care of; if you disturb me again then I won't be responsible for my own actions.' Gabby took off back towards the town.

Paul looked at me, 'Ewan, Josh, Mitchell; stay on patrol. Xav, Embry; come with me.'

We raced after Gabby, who was tearing back to the township at breakneck speed. Normally we wouldn't have been able to follow Gabby, but Paul knew where Kody was and so he knew where Gabby was going. She was going to Leah and Randy's, as Randy had offered to take care of Kody when the 'call to arms' sounded.

'Who the hell..?' Gabby wondered as she phased and her presence disappeared.

I followed suit and pulled on my patrol shorts. Despite the fact that Gabby had to pull a dress on over her head, she was hundreds of metres ahead of me by the time I'd pulled my shorts on. For a long time she had worn t-shirts and shorts but she soon figured one dress was easier to carry and put on then two articles of clothing.

As I approached Leah and Randy's house I realised who Gabby had been surprised by and it spurred me on. I knew that I had to get inside before the shit well and truly hit the fan. Thankfully I got inside before Gabby started yelling and I was able to myself between her and Ana. Randy must have sensed the danger in the situation and he stood beside me, a united front. Although I knew Randy's concern was Leah and their two infants.

"What are you doing here?" Gabby growled over mine and Randy's shoulders.

Ana looked flustered, "I wanted to see my friend."

Gabby's jaw tightened and her breathing deepened. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that Gabby was starting to get angry again. She stood taller than she normally did and pushed her chest out, she was getting ready to make her dominance known again and it worried me. But not as much as it seemed to worry Randy.

"Please, Gob. The babies." he murmured but Gabby wasn't listening to him.

"Mama." came a shy chirp from the floor and I looked down to see Kody gripping Gabby's leg as he pulled himself to his feet.

More than one mother in La Push had noted that Kody was developing faster than most of the babies his age. At seven and a half months he was babbling and able to stand on his own, something that surprised a lot of people. 'Mama' was his most recent word and he used it mainly in the presence of Gabby, although Mitchell said that he'd been called both 'Mama' and 'Dada' before.

Everything about Gabby softened as she bent down to pick up her child. I was so grateful for little Takoda in that moment, and I couldn't help but think that he would always be my favourite of the packs' 'pups', as they were affectionately referred to.

Gabby kissed his forehead and then hugged him to her shoulder, giving me the scariest glare that I'd gotten in months, "I'll talk to you later."


End file.
